Lorax: The 64th Hunger Games
by SnowLucario
Summary: Truffula trees...a smoggy city...pristine lakes...Barbaloot bear muttations...we've got that here! In this diabolical Hunger Games arena, tributes are forced to choose between environmentalism and industrialism. Suggested you read Labyrinth before this.
1. A Tale Of Two Victors

**Hey, guys, it's SnowLucario again! I still need 16 tributes for this Games, but I decided to write this first chapter now. This is kind of a sneak peek. This chapter will be when Johan Bainbridge dies. I hope that you enjoy, and please remember to review! It really makes my day.**

 **I will draw a map of the arena and put it on my DeviantArt, fairly soon. It is based on, as I'm sure you are aware, a Dr. Seuss book. I think that this is a great, diabolical design for the Hunger Games. It only had two votes out of the nine in the poll, but I "reaped" it, so this is what's happening. This chapter does contain prostitution, but it's not explicit in the details. I think that this can remain T.**

 **Enjoy the first chapter of _Lorax: The 64th Hunger Games!_**

* * *

It was in the early hours of the morning in the Capitol. Even though there were not too many people on the streets at this time of night, the various JumboTrons around the city were very much lit up. Taxis went around the city, making familiar buzzing sounds. Truly, the Capitol never slept.

And, in the city's red light district, a young woman stirred. She had barely slept all night with the man who had paid an exorbitant sum of money for her company, but, towards two in the AM, she had finally managed to drift off. Not for too long, though. And, when she woke up, the man was still there, sleeping deeply, clearly very inebriated from a night of heavy drinking. She couldn't have woken him if she had tried, not that she would have wanted to.

The young woman decided to leave. No point in staying when she had already been paid, after all. And the man was in no condition to just chase after her. She didn't like being a prostitute, not like very many people did at all. But that was just the way things went. She didn't want to take a taxi, because she always enjoyed the feeling of the night air on her face. It was early spring, and the flowers in the windows of the various brothels in the area were just beginning to bloom. Just a little bit, though. Maybe it was just some type of special Capitol technology, she thought.

She left the red light district and decided to go to some place for breakfast. Hopefully, the man whose apartment she had just left wouldn't notice, or care, about her absence once the sky got lighter.

As the woman searched for a cafe that would be open at such an ungodly hour, she reflected on her situation.

Outsiders who saw her would assume that she was just a garden-variety hooker, doing it just because she simply had no money to do anything else with her life. She was one of those down-and-outs who simply went to drunken men's places to sleep with them for the night. In reality, though, she had all of the money she could ever ask for, and she got regular STD tests. Because she _wasn't_ a garden-variety prostitute.

She was Margaret Malachi, victor of the most recent Hunger Games. That was what happened to the victors whom President Snow considered relatively desirable. They were sold as prostitutes to the highest bidder. And that was what Margaret had been required to do, in exchange for winning the Hunger Games. And getting her life back. She'd been required to throw some of it away.

This was even more horrible than she had expected it to be.

Margaret was currently on her second tour of duty for what Snow had asked her to do. She was fairly new to the business, so she was still not always the most desirable person to have around. Every month, she would leave her Victor's Village home in District 2 for a week, and travel by luxury train to the Capitol. There, she would check in at Snow's mansion, and she receive her assignment. She'd go around to various apartments in the red light district, and for her services. Of course, since she was very well-known, the sums people offered were very often astronomical.

She never got to keep the money, though, not that she would have had much use for it. Every cent had to be returned to Snow, where it would probably go to families in the Capitol, or maybe a bit of the very richest in the districts. Not to anyone who could have needed it. This was another thing that made Margaret's blood boil. Like so many other things, though, she just had no control over it.

So she would stay in the Capitol for a week, at a different man's place every night. And then, she would go back to Snow, return the money, and the day was hers until four in the afternoon, when she would have to return to the presidential palace. There, she would receive her next address of the person who had offered the most. Rinse and repeat. That was how it would go until there was another desirable female victor. Then, Margaret would be freed from her obligations. And she could go back to being completely normal.

After two miles on foot, Margaret found a cafe that had breakfast starting at five in the morning, which it was 5:07 AM right now. She went in and thought about what she would order. At the same time, she took out some of her coursework for District 2 Community College. She had enrolled shortly after her victory, even though it would ultimately amount to nothing. Her classmates knew, of course, that she left for the Capitol a week every month, but they didn't know why. The forced prostitution of victors was not common knowledge to the people in the districts.

And so, Margaret was forced to suffer in silence, unable to tell anyone else of what she had to do. And it might only get worse from here on out, because she would be serving as mentor in the upcoming 64th Hunger Games. She had heard, from a male victor who was also prostituted, that the guilt that he experienced whenever one of his tributes died was almost unbearable. Bric was from District 8, and he had won the 47th Hunger Games, at the age of sixteen. He was, of course, not a Career tribute, so he had won his Games through luck, mainly, as well as his survival skills.

"Every year, it gets harder and harder for me to live with myself" Bric said. "Literally, I can feel it starting to drive me insane".

Margaret hadn't even mentored anybody yet. Even so, she already felt bad for the District 2 tributes who would probably be going off to their deaths in July. And there was little she could do about it.

When the waitress came over, she became very excited at the sight of Margaret there. She was _actually serving a victor!_ As Margaret ordered strawberry French toast and hot chocolate, one of her favorite things in District 2, she was constantly trying to hold in cheers. Clearly, she was surprised to find that Margaret was bringing her work to the Capitol with her on her tour of duty for prostitution.

Fifteen minutes later, Margaret dug into her food, lamenting her latest lot in life. But, she reminded herself, things could still be worse...

* * *

As the sun rose over the Capitol, Johan Bainbridge woke up in his luxury apartment. He was still feeling very hungover, incredibly nauseous with a pounding headache. But that wasn't really a surprise. He had been out late, partying and drinking, with the other Gamemakers, after a day of working on the arena. And it truly was going to be an amazing one. Even now, three months before the actual Hunger Games, he daydreamed frequently about what it would be like. President Snow would no doubt be very pleased with his idea. After all, he had seemed fairly happy with the Labyrinth. And, Bainbridge figured, this arena's theme also began with an "L".

In his mind, Johan thought about the Dr. Seuss books that his mother had used to read to him when he was younger. Those had often been very bright and colorful. After all, they were meant for kids. And that was his whole goal. He was going to make an arena that they could never, ever forget.

On this particular day, Johan Bainbridge had an unpleasant job. He was to oversee the execution of one victor in particular, who had committed a crime by physically attacking another victor. He went over to the Capitol's execution room. This would remain quiet. The public story would be that Janet Jingles had committed suicide due to the stress of being a mentor getting to her. That would be pretty believable, after all. That happened all of the time.

Okay, not _all_ of the time. But Johan wasn't going to shy away from his job.

Bainbridge looked at the condemned. Janet was standing with a noose around her neck. In a few seconds, the floor would drop out from underneath her, and she would fall, down and down and down. Then, the rope would snap her neck, and she would be dead. All for assaulting Margaret Malachi.

Then, it happened.

As Janet fell, she let out a scream, but that wasn't the only thing that happened. Yes, one of their most recent victors was dead, but someone else was dead.

Johan Bainbridge crumpled to the ground, dead. Someone had just killed him.

And that someone was Glacier Jackalburg, the new Head Gamemaker. Just a few days shy of seventeen years old, he had been selected to be the new HG due to the Labyrinth arena being boring. After all, that was how things went in the Capitol. If the Games were boring, it was off with the Head Gamemaker's head.

And now, Jackalburg looked up to the sky, his very tall frame outlined in the rising sun.

It was his time to shine, now.

* * *

 **RIP Johan Bainbridge and Janet Jingles**

 **Johan Bainbridge: The Head Gamemaker of Labyrinth is dead, just like I said he would be. I'm sorry I didn't put much effort into his death, but I didn't want this first chapter to be too long. I just wanted to set the stage a little bit. Plus, I didn't want to work on it too much, considering that it's the weekend. Even so, he was fun to write while he lasted. I loved portraying him as the Head Gamemaker.**

 **Janet Jingles: I loved writing her friendship with Elegance in the last story. The flashback scene in the Goodbyes was very similar to the Toxicroak scene in BTT. And that's not a surprise. Even so, I am glad that I got such good feedback from the creator of Elegance for my writing of her. And WNWF has another tribute in this story, too. Hopefully, I do as good a job on Glory as I did on Elegance.**

 **With that out of the way, your sneak peek of Lorax is over. The next chapter will not be written until I have all 24 tributes. So, if you want that day to come sooner rather than later, I suggest you start submitting!**

 **I have a mixed relationship with the Dr. Seuss book. Yes, that's what this arena is based on. I loved the book. As for the movie, I saw all of it except for about ten minutes in the middle, because I threw up in the movie theater's aisle, because I was sick. In case you are wondering, the arena is going to be based mainly on the book, not the movie, because I am more familiar with the former.**

 **Enjoy and make sure to review!**

 **Sincerely, SnowLucario**


	2. Reapings Part 1 of 3

**SnowLucario is back in action.**

 **As you can see,** ** _Lorax_** **has a new cover. I drew it over the weekend. It looks pretty simplistic, but I like it. This is going to be a pretty awesome arena theme, I can tell. It has reached 100 views and six reviews, which is a good start. I think that will increase faster than last time, because I now have a finished SYOT under my belt.**

 **I uploaded two more deviations today (September 19). One is a selfie, one is a journal entry about this story, basically saying that I need more tributes.**

 **Interesting fact: My good friend WhyNotWriteFanfiction, who praised highly the way I wrote Elegance in the last one, has also taken up the District 1 female spot again. Glory is her creation.**

 **Anyway, please remember to review. I want to know if I wrote your characters well!**

* * *

 **District 1**

"I'm checking out today".

The woman at the front desk of the community home in District 1 looked up at Glory. She had obviously been aware of the girl's plans, due to the fact that she had talked of little else for the last several weeks.

"Okay, Ms. Asphodel. I wish you good luck in the Hunger Games" the matron said. She looked sternly at the girl over her glasses, but Glory could tell that she was proud of her. After all, the reaping was a cause for celebration in the wealthiest district of Panem.

"Thank you, Mrs. Alger" Glory replied. She would need all of the good luck she could get in the Hunger Games, but she didn't think it could be too bad. After all, a District 1 girl, Janet Jingles, had won the Games just two years earlier.

Of course, Janet had later committed suicide because of the guilt involved...Glory pushed that thought out of her head. She knew that she was far from suicidal. If she had to die early, it would be because she went out fighting in the Hunger Games, not because of her own hand. Yes, of that she was determined.

As for last year's District 1 female, Elegance Elysia...she'd gotten a six in training, the result of fainting in front of the Gamemakers, the result of pricking her finger with a mace. As a result, she had been kicked out of the Career pack and left to fend for herself. On the fourth day, she'd ended up in a room of the Labyrinth with snakes, much resembling an _Indiana Jones_ movie. She'd gotten bit by a snake and died facing her worst fear. That was one horrible way to go out.

This year, though, would be different. This year, she would bring _glory_ to District 1. She would reverse the tide that had started with Elegance.

"Oh, and one more thing" Mrs. Alger said. "I think that, before you leave, you should say good-bye to Blush. After all, she's your best friend here, and...you know". Clearly, the matron did not want to state it outright, but Glory knew what she was going to say. Of course, there was a chance that she might not return home. And Glory knew the risks that she would be facing on the adventure that lay ahead of her. And she was determined to take them, all the same.

And so, she said good-bye to Blush. They had never been very close, but Blush Rosent had been the only friend Glory had ever had, ever since she had moved into the community home. Blush was sitting on her bed, drawing something that looked suspiciously like an evil version of their matron. But Mrs. Alger wasn't _that_ bad.

As for the reason they weren't very close, that was simple. Glory had not led the easiest of lives prior to meeting Blush. Her parents had both abused her for as long as she could remember. Life had pretty much sucked.

The tipping point came when Glory was ten years old. In a fit of rage, her parents, Glamma and Extravagance, had killed her younger brother, Bliss. Glory had always loved Bliss due to his ability to see the positive in everything. That was, of course, also something that Glory had tried to do as well.

Glory had run away and called the Peacekeepers. And, then, the Peacekeepers had come in and arrested her parents. They were currently serving twenty years to life in the District 1 Correctional Facility, and Glory hadn't heard from them since.

As for Glory, the Peacekeepers had removed her from her house and placed her in the community home here. Ever since then, she'd been far happier. In poorer districts, the orphanage was awful, with hardly any resources to take care of the children. But since District 1 was the wealthiest in Panem, it was far better. There was a very nice view of the Pacific Ocean from the windows of Glory's dormitory. And the food was quite good, far better than she would have expected.

And that was why Glory only had one friend here. As much as she liked Blush, there was one thing that Glory adored more than anything else. And that was the Capitol. She felt indebted to them for removing her from that toxic situation back at home.

As Glory walked out of the orphanage for the last time, she knew that it was time to serve the Capitol a little more.

* * *

"I am going to do this" Garnet said.

As he threw the spear, the same thing he had been doing for the last ten years, training for the Hunger Games, he kept repeating this mantra over and over again, much to the annoyance of the other boys at the academy. They were clearly jealous of him, because it wasn't _their_ year yet to be in the Games. And, for many of them, it would never _be_ their year. Because there could only be one District 1 boy every year in the Games.

The spear hit the dummy in the brain, straight on. There was no way that, had it been an actual human being, it would have stood a chance. As if it had exploded, the stuffing of the dummy began flying everywhere, getting all over everyone else's faces.

"And I can tell you mean it!" the trainer said. The trainer, a short woman with a ponytail, was normally very stolid about the situation at hand, whatever it might be. She rarely if ever smiled, and was usually speaking in a militaristic fashion. Now, though, Garnet could tell that she was very pleased with the skill he had just shown with a spear. That he could use to kill other tributes in the Games.

After a few of the other boys had demonstrated their weaponry skills, the trainer decreed that Garnet would be the one to enter the Hunger Games this year. The other boys all looked very disappointed, which was no surprise, considering that they had been waiting their whole lives for this opportunity. But Garnet had little sympathy for them.

Since this was reaping day, Garnet had to head home before he could go to the town square. It was only a short walk from the academy to his king-sized oceanfront villa. Immediately, his father, Jett, came to greet him.

"Son! How did you do at the academy? Are you going into the Games this year?"

Garnet smiled, showing off his ridiculously white teeth. He was going to do this. He was going to nab another victory for District 1. In theory, all twelve districts were competing. In reality, though, it was really District 1 versus District 2. Half of the time, the victor came from one of those two districts. That was what happened, considering that those tributes had the most training and the most supplies from the Cornucopia.

"I am" Garnet said.

"That is excellent!" Amber Golds responded. His mother worked as a hairstylist in the Capitol, and, as such, she was frequently away at night. However, she had made sure to return home for the reaping, which everyone had to attend. Technically, it wasn't mandatory for people who were in the hospital to attend. All the same, though, the reapings were such a popular event that it wasn't uncommon to see hospital patients wheeling their IV stands to the central square.

"I am going to win these Games" Garnet said. The more times he stated this sentence, the more convinced he became of this.

* * *

The reaping was held in the central square of District 1. This year, unlike last year, a separate section had been set up for non-terminal patients who wanted to watch the reaping, even though it would be shown on TV that night in their rooms, so there really _was_ no reason to go.

Some people _were_ just that hardcore, Glory thought.

The escort, a young man with lime green hair, began the traditional ceremonies with the movie on the Dark Days and the Treaty Of Treason, which was the law that had brought the whole Hunger Games system into being. And then, it was time to reap the tributes.

The escort grabbed a name from the girl's bowl, after saying "Ladies first!".

"Silvera Jewel!"

The younger sister of Horatio Jewel, the previous District 1 boy, now notorious for wetting his pants when confronted with a Minotaur muttation, flinched at the sound of her name being called. Of course, there was no way she was going into the arena.

Luckily, she lived in a Career district.

"I volunteer as tribute!" Glory called out. When no one challenged her, she ran breathlessly up to the stage.

"What is your name" the escort asked her.

"Glory Asphodel" she said.

"Well done, Glory! And now, for our male tribute..."

* * *

"No way" Garnet said. "I was _made_ for this. There's no fucking way any of you are getting in my way. I've been chosen by the academy. I'm number one in my class. I'm going in".

Garnet strode up to the stage as if he owned the world. When the escort asked his name, he simply said, "Garnet Golds".

The escort then stood between the two Career tributes, who would now be aligned with each other in the arena. They couldn't be one hundred percent certain of this, but it seemed highly likely, considering what usually happened.

They shook hands.

* * *

 **District 2**

"Can I have your daughter for the rest of my life? Say yes, say yes, because I need to know" Brett said to the man.

Of course, considering that Mr. Jenkins was an upper-class man wearing a business suit, and Brett Mason was a lower-class seventeen-year-old boy from the relative slums of District 2, the odds were against him being allowed to marry Estonia, the daughter of this man. However, he was disappointed to see Mr. Jenkins's head shake.

"You'll never get my blessing until the day you die" he said.

Brett's heart sank. He'd first started to notice Estonia when they were both eleven and in sixth grade, and he'd almost instantly fallen for her. He wanted nothing more than to impress this girl. In ninth grade, he'd finally confessed his feelings for her. And now, they had seemed on a path to courtship. They'd been dating for three years, and things had appeared to be going very well. He'd popped the question to her, and she had said that she just might say yes.

"Why you gotta be so rude?" Brett asked. "Don't you know I'm _human too?_ You know what, I'm gonna marry her anyway. Marry that girl, marry her anyway, yes".

"Well, on one condition" Mr. Jenkins said.

"What is that?" Brett asked, perking up almost immediately. He wanted to know what, if anything, could convince this man to allow him to marry this girl. He would go to hell and back for her.

"I will let you have Estonia if you enter and win the Hunger Games next year" the man said. "Until then, she is off-limits to you, you understand me?"

"Yes, sir" Brett said. And he knew, irretrievably, that that was the only way that he would be able to win Estonia from her father.

* * *

That had all happened the previous year. Now, Brett had gotten in better shape. He'd learned how to wield a sword, as well as some basic combat and survival skills, at the Career academy. He wasn't the perfect Career, because most of those had been training all of their lives, and Brett only had a year of preparation before he could enter the arena.

Now, Brett was eighteen, and it was his last year to volunteer for the Hunger Games. He had to do it today, or else he would never get to be married to Estonia.

 _At least I'll get lots of sponsors,_ he thought.

Brett had no question that he had a good sob story for the Capitol audience. They loved romance, just like some Shakespearean tragedy. Of course, that was essentially what the Hunger Games was. Romances happened sometimes, but they never managed to get out of the gate, since one or both of the lovers would be dead before the Games were over. Even so, Brett knew that this would not be the case for him.

He was going to marry Estonia Jenkins, or die trying. Literally.

* * *

"Get that bag of blood right now!" Mrs. Shinier whispered, so as not to awaken the other patients, to her daughter. Even though it was reaping day, there was still work to be done at the clinic. A nurse's job was never done, Twilight had learned from an early age.

Twilight was sent over to the blood bank, running as fast as her legs could take her. She didn't want to be too late to save the patient.

"What type?" she shouted back at her mother.

"O negative, he doesn't have that much longer until he's bled out completely!" her mother said, clearly not caring any more that she would probably be waking all of District 2 at this point. It was about four in the morning, and Twilight was helping her mother at the clinic in which she worked. Of course, this would be her last day volunteering, because it was reaping day.

And it was Twilight's year to enter the Hunger Games.

As Twilight ran back with a bag of O-, her mother hung it from the patient's IV stand. This was what her mother had done her whole life. Checking the heart monitor, Twilight said, "Oh no..."

"What's that?" Twilight's mother asked her.

"It looks like he's dead" Twilight responded somberly.

Even though patients died all of the time at the clinic, it wasn't a happy occurrence by any means. This was the thirtieth patient to die in the last year. There were rumors that Sapienna Shinier was going to be sacked, due to her track record. Even so, she had over six thousand patients every year, a fatality rate of 0.5% or less. But that didn't change the fact that it was the largest clinic in District 2, so _of course_ it was going to be the one with the most deaths. Why expect anything else?

Twilight extended her ears, listening for the beat of the patient's heart. Maybe there was something that the monitor just wasn't picking up, and the patient wasn't really dead yet.

Some people would have thought this ridiculous, but Twilight had reason to believe it was possible. Five years before, when Twilight was twelve, she had been told that she would require hearing aids, because she was becoming hard of hearing. Twilight, however, did not want to wear hearing aids because she thought that she would look dorky at the Career academy she attended, and it would jeopardize her chances of being chosen as the one who would enter the Games that year.

So, her mother had performed an elective surgery on her so that she would be able to hear better. But not just any _hearing better._ Twilight now had superhuman hearing capabilities, so much so that bees buzzing on the flowers sounded like a million lawnmowers cranked up to full power. And she knew that this would be a great asset to her in the Games.

Unfortunately, the patient was still dead. That might also be her greatest weakness in the Games; she was uneasy around death.

* * *

The day of the reaping was hot and sultry, as it normally was during summer in District 2. The previous victor, Margaret Malachi, was standing to the side, watching. She would be the one to mentor the chosen girl. After the normal movie about the Dark Days and the Treaty Of Treason, the escort, a tall, skinny woman with long orange hair, said "Ladies first!"

She dug into the bowl and pulled out a name. However, nobody else ever found out who it was, because Twilight shouted, "I VOLUNTEER AS TRIBUTE!"

She pushed her way through hordes of other teenagers to the stage. When the escort asked her name, she simply said, "Twilight Shinier". A lot of people laughed at the fact that that was really her name, but they decided to ignore it for the reaping of the male tribute. Which wouldn't matter, because someone would volunteer anyway.

"Brett Mason!"

* * *

"Guys, put your hands down" Brett said. "I've got this. I'm going in. I really want this!"

Brett walked to the stage, and thought _I'm doing this for you, Estonia..._

The two shook hands, each of them firmly believing that they would be the victor of the 64th Hunger Games.

* * *

 **District 3**

Gauge just didn't fit in.

Not with his friends, because he had a lot of them, but with District 3 in general. As the other kids around him were talking about and anticipating their final reaping before they would be free to pursue a full career in the tech industry, Gauge somehow knew that that wasn't for him.

What Gauge really wanted was to be a firefighter, or a janitor, or something like that. Something that wasn't a District 3 job. And everyone knew that.

"Hey, Gauge, you want to go over to my place after the reaping? For a giant slumber party, to celebrate the fact that we're going to be safe from the reaping after today?" one of his friends shouted out.

"Yeah!" Gauge said enthusiastically. Despite what one might have thought, Gauge was actually quite extroverted and always loved to hang out with the other boys from his high school. The reaping was a cause for celebration, for everyone other than the person who was reaped, as well as their family and friends.

Of course, school was off today due to the event that took place annually on this day. It was something that everyone had to attend, unless they were dying. The event where one boy and one girl between the ages of twelve and eighteen would be selected for the Hunger Games.

Gauge was eighteen, his last year. Since his family was middle class, they did not need to take out tesserae, so he only had seven entries in the reaping bowl. That was better than could be said for some of his friends.

"Yo, 'sup, Gauge?" came a holler from across the park.

Gauge's best friend Matrix came running over to him. As much as he was very good friends with Matrix, Gauge sometimes felt that the other boy was somewhat immature, and he found this annoying. Even so, they enjoyed hanging out with each other, and playing video games. They also played chess, at which Matrix always won. That was no real surprise, because, as said before, Gauge didn't feel as though he belonged in District 3, the intellectual district.

"Not much, Matrix" Gauge said back. "A little worried about the reaping, is all".

"Look at it this way, I've got thirty entries in that reaping bowl!" Matrix said. Matrix's family was lower-class, so he had to take out tesserae for himself, his parents, and his younger brother. It was far more likely for his friend to be chosen over Gauge for the reaping.

But he just couldn't shake the feeling...

* * *

"This looks good, Dad!" Zelda exclaimed as Mario hit an item box. Getting a blue shell, Zelda used it to make her way into first place. It didn't take long until she herself got hit by one. Karma, she thought.

Normally, the people of District 3 would not have had access to _Mario Kart_ _59_ so long before it was released. But Oiram Pixelford worked at Nintendo Of Panem, and so he got special privileges. In fact, he often brought prototypes of his latest video game creation home to be play-tested by his children. They were his quality assurance team, he often joked.

"That's good news" Oiram said. "I really want to get this game out fairly soon. I'd want to take advantage of the boost in sales that is likely to follow the reaping. That's how things go, and I want to capitalize on it. Do you think that this game is ready for release?" he asked his daughter.

"I definitely do" Zelda said. "I think that people are going to love it! But the reaping..."

There was nothing Oiram could say that he knew would make her relax. After all, even the wealthiest District 3 citizens were not exempt from the reapings, and people rarely volunteered in her district. So if Zelda was reaped, despite only having four entries in the bowl, there would most likely be no one there for her.

Just then, Peach Pixelford, Zelda's mother, came in.

"Are you ready, Zelda?" Peach asked her. "It's time to go. We don't want to be late to the reaping!"

"No, definitely not, Mom. Let's go".

So they left the house, taking the subway to get to the central square. One of Zelda's greatest interests was public transit maps. That was partly because she had Asperger's syndrome, and partly because she lived in District 3. She didn't know which one it was.

But she didn't care right now. All she hoped was that she would not be selected to compete today. But she did have a plan, just in case.

 _Just in case..._

* * *

As soon as the Pixelfords, including Zelda and her sisters, Daisy and Lucia (seventeen and thirteen years old, respectively), reached the square and were asked to draw blood for identification, they all went off to their respective age sections.

After the escort, an overweight man with purple hair, went through the traditional video about the Dark Days, the rebellion, and the Treaty Of Treason, he put his hand in the bowl for the girl's name.

Zelda was really hoping that it wouldn't be her. That was all she wanted. _Don't let it be me._

Of course, she could never be that lucky.

"Zelda Pixelford!"

Zelda tried to think back to that morning, when she'd been play-testing her father's video games. She rarely had as much fun as she did then. And she was unlikely to live long enough to be on the quality assurance team of _Mario Kart 60._

She walked up to the stage, head down low, not happy at all with her current situation. It went from ten to zero in less than ten seconds.

She tried to focus on the escort, as he drew the name of the male tribute.

"Gauge Cypher!"

 _Fuck,_ he thought. _I just got reaped. Great._

He went up to the stage and reluctantly shook hands with Zelda. The entire time, he was wishing that he didn't have to, because the more connections he forged with his district partner, the harder it would be when it was finally time to let go.

* * *

 **District 4**

It was reaping day today. It should have been a cause for celebration for Memphis Alonso, but there was a simple reason that that wasn't the case.

It brought back bad memories. The previous year, he had fallen for a girl named Zoe Winter, the mayor's daughter. They were both selected to volunteer for the Hunger Games two weeks in advance, being the top boy and girl from the training academy. But it sure made a lot of people jealous.

Amanda Snow, a pissed-off eighteen-year-old who could not comprehend the fact that Zoe had been selected to volunteer before her, went over to attack Zoe with a sword. She ran Zoe through the hand. The wound didn't look too serious to Memphis. Even so, he had run over to her, and then it had happened.

Zoe had died. The reason? The sword was spiked with a deadly poison, and Amanda had just really wanted to take her place. Of course, Anna Hardy had overcome everyone else to get onto that stage. And people had been so focused on her that they hadn't really noticed that Zoe Winter was dead. And Amanda hadn't even gotten in any trouble for it, because it had been interpreted as an accident.

Memphis, on the other hand, knew better. As he lifted bags of flour from a delivery truck and carried them into the bakery, the same one that District 4's seaweed-tinted bread was baked in, he imagined that every bag was Amanda Snow, who he would no doubt have completely annihilated in the arena given the opportunity. Forget about the Career alliance that was standard for the Hunger Games.

 _I have to do it. I have to avenge Zoe. I_ need _to win the Hunger Games this year._

That was what had kept him going, throughout all of his time on the streets. When he was thirteen years old, his parents had been shot for being rebels, and he'd ended up as a street kid. He'd had to fight in order to get into the Career academy. And he didn't regret any of the fighting.

He was very much determined to win these Games.

* * *

"How are things going, Sparkle? Let's check your blood sugar one more time before we go to the reaping".

"I think that it might be going up a little, because I'm so nervous" Sparkle responded.

Of course, this was no real surprise, her nervousness. Even though District 4 was a Career district, Sparkle worried about the reaping every year. She was sixteen, and her family was fairly well-off, so she didn't have too much to worry about, only five entries in that bowl. But the problem wasn't her chances of being chosen.

The problem was her chances of winning if she _was_ chosen.

Sparkle knew that she had little or no chance whatsoever of winning the Hunger Games. She had type 1 diabetes, and she needed to eat regularly in order to avoid having lows. And that wasn't something that was easy to accomplish in the arena.

Sparkle's mother led them off to the central square of District 4, where the escort, a woman with black hair, just normal, simple black hair, unlike what was typical in the Capitol, put her hand in the reaping bowl after all of the normal things about the past.

"Sparkle Waters!"

Even though Sparkle heard her name, she wasn't too worried. Her mother, Mallory Waters, had always told her that she was very lucky to live in District 4. If she was chosen, someone would volunteer for her. Give the fishing district an actual _chance_ at winning.

But no one did. And still, no one did.

Finally, after what might have been as much as a minute, Sparkle knew that she simply had to accept her fate. No one was volunteering for her this year. So, she simply walked up to the stage. She was feeling very lightheaded all of a sudden, and, dimly, she remembered that she had been hardly able to eat at breakfast this morning. She'd been so nervous for the reaping.

"Koz Edgewater!" the escort called out.

A small 13-year-old boy flinched at the sound of his name. He was no doubt worried that the same thing would happen to him as had happened to Sparkle. But, of course, he was luckier than Sparkle Waters.

"I VOLUNTEER AS TRIBUTE!" came an extremely loud roar from the section for eighteen-year-old boys.

The boy walked up to the stage, and the escort asked his name.

"Memphis Alonso" he said. "And I'm here to avenge my late girlfriend, Zoe Winter, murdered by Amanda Snow at last year's reaping!"

Sparkle was having a difficult time keeping a grasp on reality at this point. All of a sudden, her world turned black before they could shake hands.

* * *

 **This chapter is just about five thousand words exactly. I hope that's a respectable length for the first chapter of reapings. I did not initially have a District 3 girl, but I created Zelda just for the sake of being able to write this chapter today. And I like Zelda. Despite being the opposite gender, I can relate to her to a certain degree.**

 **I hope that you guys are going to review. If you created a character that was in this chapter, I'd love to hear how I did at writing them. I can't wait to hear your feedback!**

 **I cannot write the next chapter until I have everyone from 5 to 8. I'm currently waiting on a District 7 girl and a District 8 girl.**

 **Sincerely, SnowLucario.**


	3. Reapings Part 2 of 3

**Sorry for the late update. Oh, wait, it's only been a couple days!**

 **I really am spoiling you guys, because this is considered extremely fast for a SYOT. Labyrinth technically took me under six weeks, since a lot of the time was spent at summer camp, during which I had no access to a computer. But I am going to write these reapings. Hopefully, you guys enjoy. Please review and tell me if I wrote your character well.**

* * *

 **District 5**

"It's reaping day today" said James Shelder.

James and his sister, Gleam, were both seventeen years old. They were currently sitting on the hill overlooking the slums of District 5, where the Shelders lived. Gleam felt a lot of anxiety about the coming event. Not only was she on her sixth year of eligibility for the Hunger Games, but her family was poor. Very poor. She had four younger siblings and a mother, as well as herself, for whom she took out tesserae. Therefore, she had thirty-six entries in the reaping bowl, which was higher than most. But that didn't necessarily doom her. A lot of other people had more.

As Gleam continued to fidget, worrying about what lay ahead, she reflected on the past. It wasn't a pleasant memory, but she dealt with it the same way she tried to deal with a lot of other things.

She turned it into a fairy tale.

* * *

 _Once upon a time, there was a girl named Gleam. She and her family lived in a small house in the poor sections of a faraway land called District 5. She had four siblings, one brother and three sisters, all younger than her. And her parents treated her horribly, vastly favoring the younger children._

 _One day, Gleam Shelder got fed up with the way she was being treated. And so, she went and grabbed her father's axe. She and James, her oldest sibling (but still younger than her) who was also treated poorly, conspired on this scheme. With his help, the two children worked together to overpower their father, who was murdered._

 _This gave them a little bit of good luck, but it was still not enough to get their mother to treat them well. If anything, she was even more cruel after Mr. Shelder's death. And everyone knew that that was why._

Now, Gleam knew that she didn't want to have to kill anyone else. Even though her father had treated her like shit, she had not enjoyed killing him, even though she had expected to. She didn't want to do it again, but she also knew that she could if she absolutely had to.

* * *

The night before the reaping, Preston had decided that he had had enough of being bored out of his mind at the laboratory his parents worked at. Science was in his blood, but did he really need it anymore? No, not at all, he had decided. And it was very possible, although highly unlikely, that this might have been his last full day in District 5.

So he called all of his friends and got them to spend the evening at the local theater. There, he decided to show him his skills at acting. Using some of his family's funds, not an inconsiderable amount considering the fact that his family was one of the most accomplished in District 5, he hired a group of actors to help him.

Preston's tall, slightly gaunt frame made him good for the part of Oliver Twist in the play that he decided to show off to his friends. He was really enjoying himself, the way he had wanted to spend his last night at home before the reaping.

"Please, sir, may I have some more?" Preston asked in his best childish British accent. His friends laughed.

Throughout the whole time, Preston was in the zone. He correctly executed every line, and his friends were clapping the whole way.

"Great job, Preston!" his best friend, Ethan Veneables, applauded him. The rest of his friends were also very impressed with how Preston had done. They all loved the way he had portrayed Oliver. They all crowd-surfed him across the theater back towards Ethan.

As Preston walked past Ethan, he caught him looking very distraught and worried. And then, Preston realized why.

Ethan's older sister had been reaped for the 59th Hunger Games, some five years earlier. She had been the very first person to be killed by the District 2 male. Ever since, Ethan had been even more afraid of being reaped.

Whispering into his friend's ear, once everyone else was out of earshot, Preston said, "I would die for you, so that you didn't have to".

Ethan looked pleased that his friend cared that much about him. But, somehow, Preston couldn't shake the feeling that somehow, in some way, what he had just said might come true.

* * *

The following afternoon, the reaping took place in the central square of District 5. After blood was drawn for identification, Ethan was sent off into the section for sixteen-year-olds, while Preston was corralled into Section 17. After the usual spiel about Panem's past, the escort, a man with blue hair, dug his hand into the girl's bowl.

"Gleam Shelder!"

After no one stood up to volunteer, she said, "Well, guess it's me". She walked up to the stage, dejected. But that couldn't compare to what would happen next.

 _I hope it's not me, or Ethan,_ Preston thought.

"Our male tribute is...Ethan Veneables".

Ethan blanched at the sound of his name being called. But, Preston felt a protective urge taking control of him. He was very devoted to Ethan. But was he devoted enough to lay down his life for his friend? He didn't know if he would be brave enough to be in the Hunger Games.

Preston knew that his time to act was running up. Already, the Peacekeepers were starting to converge on Ethan and lead him towards the stage.

As if he was being controlled by a remote, Preston yelled, "I VOLUNTEER AS TRIBUTE!"

Everyone looked shocked, but Preston wasn't backing down. Not at all. He walked up to the stage, and, when asked his name, said, "Preston Wagner".

"It's not usual at all to have a volunteer in District 5" the escort said. "Why did you do it?"

"Ethan's my friend" Preston said. "I wouldn't let him down".

"No, Preston!" Ethan screamed. "I won't let you!"

Preston heard his friend's protests, but his mind was made up. He shook hands with Gleam, the whole time thinking of a strategy to win the Games.

* * *

 **District 6**

"Wonder what we can do with this thing?" Jay asked her brother, Falcon.

The two of them were in one of the yellowing fields that surrounded District 6. The factory smoke was still present, as it always was everywhere in the district, but the city could barely be seen in the distance, a good seven miles away from the central square. Most of the people of District 6 lived in run-down apartments, but the Jordans lived in an even more run-down cottage.

And there was a reason for that.

Jay handed Falcon the tire that she had plundered from a factory downtown. None of the infamous Jordan family had a job at all, instead choosing to engage in illegal activities, stealing and gambling in order to get through another day. And, thus far, it had been working.

Normally, the Peacekeepers would have been on them almost immediately. But everyone was scared of them. The citizens of District 6 had been taught that the whole Jordan family were no better than animals. That they would murder innocent, law-abiding citizens if given the opportunity. And that they were completely and utterly lacking in any sense of morality.

In truth, though, they weren't nearly as bad as they were made out to be. For instance, they didn't actually kill people; they only committed property crimes rather than violent ones. And they generally only stole from rich people. Even so, they had a pretty bad reputation.

"I think the best thing to do with this tire is going to be to sell it on the black market, to someone who has far more money than we do" Falcon said. "I think that it'll be hard to find someone rich who isn't going to report us, though".

Jay nodded. She understood, as well as he did, that it tended to be the wealthier citizens who were less opposed, more submissive, to the powers that were in Panem. After all, they had less reason to rebel. It would only make the situation worse for them and their families.

"That'll have to wait, though" Falcon said. "It's time to go to the reaping. It doesn't do to be late, even if you _are_ in the biggest crime family in District 6". He said that last part with a gleam in his eye.

"I agree" Jay said. "If neither of us get reaped, we'll have to see how this goes".

* * *

The Lane family had a love-hate relationship with reaping day.

After all, they were on the poorer side of the spectrum, and Duncan's tesserae helped him and his mother stay afloat. Since Felicia Lane, a thirty-year-old woman who had also been a teenage mother herself, had been abandoned by her boyfriend and left to raise Duncan on her own, they could really use the extra help.

On the other hand, each reaping meant another chance for Duncan to be torn away from his mother. All they had was each other. And if that happened, Felicia would hardly be able to live with herself.

It could be worse, though. Duncan was only 13, and so he only had six entries in the reaping bowl even with his tesserae. And he helped his mother out in her machine shop.

As he handed his mother the tools she needed to continue working on their project, she said, "Are you nervous today, Duncan?"

"A little bit" he said.

Duncan's mother put down the tools she was working with and gave her son a hug. "It'll be okay" she said. "There are so many people in District 6 who could be chosen, and a lot of them probably take out tesserae as well. Six in more than a hundred thousand...those odds are astronomically low".

Duncan, of course, knew enough math to know that. He was a great student. Duncan Lane was the kind of kid that any teacher would want to have in their class. He was a diligent student, worked hard, and, most importantly, was easy to please. He could only hope that it would continue on this way.

As rough as things could be in the lower-class sections of the transportation district, Duncan knew that things could be a hell of a lot worse. They at least had each other. And that was more important than anything. As annoying as they could sometimes be to each other, Duncan was aware that if he lost his mother, he'd be alone, and have little left. Not that he didn't have a lot of friends, but there was a special familial bond that just couldn't be matched.

* * *

It was now time for the reaping. Here, the escort was a woman with scarlet hair that poofed out to both sides. She looked as though she had just been stripped of the title of prom queen, as she picked out a name from the girl's bowl.

"Jay Jordan!"

This definitely caused some whispers. There wasn't a single person in District 6 that hadn't heard one single thing about the infamous Jordan family. Maybe it was retribution for their criminal activities, like Ted Shaw from District 9, last year.

Jay was led up to the stage, and then it was time for the boy to be called. This time, it took the escort a while to pick up a name. Finally, though, she got it.

"Duncan Lane!"

Felicia Lane gasped. She had never expected her son to be reaped. Not in a million years. She regretted letting him take out tesserae, because, two to one, Duncan would have been safe had he not taken out tesserae.

No one volunteered. And so, the District 6 tributes were forced to shake hands.

* * *

 **District 7**

 _I should love this place. The pine smell...the beautiful sound of saws...the sights...the sun as it climbs over the woods...the crisp air..._

 _But I don't. And there's a reason that I don't. I live in District 7, in a dystopian nation. And I have no family. Well, that's not quite true. I have a_ very un-loving _family. And I hate being here._

These were Taysom's thoughts as he walked home from the rebel stronghold deep in the forest, the evening before the reaping. He wondered why the Capitol hadn't discovered them yet. It really was only a matter of time. As much as he disliked his uncle and aunt, who had brought him up, if he was convicted as a rebel, the hammer would fall on _them_ too. In the districts, it was guilt by association, that was how things worked.

When Taysom was seven years old, a plague had swept through the part of District 7 that the Resinworths lived in, which was nicknamed Pineville due to the fact that the people lived in log cabins made from pine trees. In an environment like this, any contagious disease spread like wildfire, and, before they knew it, the plague had taken his mother. Taysom, his father, and his sister were spared.

But the tragedy did not end there. A month after Renee Resinworth's death, a fire spread through Pineville, and many homes, including the Resinworths', burned down. In this, Taysom's sister lost her life. The fire had come as a result of Taysom's uncle playing with matches, and Mordecai Resinworth, Taysom's father, had never been able to forgive his brother. That was why his aunt and uncle, while they didn't abuse him, didn't love him nearly as much as his cousins.

It is said that when bad things happen, they come in threes. Taysom was not a superstitious person, so he figured that his family's bad luck was over. Wrong. Not two months after the fire, Mordecai died of pneumonia. All of the antibiotics the doctors could pump into him would not do the trick.

And now Taysom was raised by his apathetic aunt and uncle. What bad luck.

There was one person Taysom liked, though: his fifteen-year-old cousin, Paul. On the day after the reaping, Paul was scheduled to undergo a scan to see what stage his cancer was, and it was likely either three or four. One thing was for certain: He would not win the Hunger Games if he was reaped.

But would Taysom be able to take his place, should Paul be chosen?

* * *

Karla and her father had been on their way to the lumber mill when Micah slapped his palm on his forehead.

"What's the matter, Papa?" the 13-year-old girl asked.

"It's reaping day. I fucking forgot. Let's go!"

Karla had known that something wasn't right. Nobody had been heading in the direction of Mr. Sawden's lumber mill that he worked at. Instead, people seemed to be gravitating towards the central square of District 7. Of course, that could only have meant one thing, but Karla and her father were just too blind to see it on that hot July day.

They ran to the square. Karla wasn't particularly strong, but she sure had speed when she wanted to. It was a good mile to the place where the reaping was to take place. The attendants were standing at the front, taking blood for identification.

Although she'd had blood tests done before, Karla still felt a little sick at the sight of her own blood. She'd never had a particularly strong stomach, and the fact that this was being done to see who would be sent to the Capitol to compete in a televised 24-way battle to the death didn't make things any better. She teetered on her feet, and she seriously thought that she might faint. Just like Elegance Elysia of District 1 had allegedly done in front of the Gamemakers.

Fortunately, it passed, and then Karla was on her way to the section for her age group.

"Hey, Karla!" a girl's voice shouted. Karla looked around for the source of the voice.

It was her friend, Talulah Marigold. She was seventeen years old, a good four years older than Karla. The latter had always seemed to connect better with people older than herself. Talulah was in her section, shouting, "Let's go out into the woods after the reaping, just to hang out!"

"Okay" Karla said, trying not to draw too much attention to herself. Then, she walked into her own section. She was only two minutes late as the escort, a man with glacial blue hair, gave the usual lecture on the Dark Days, the Treaty Of Treason, and the whole reason they were having this reaping in the first place. Then, she drew the first name.

"Karla Sawden!"

 _This can't be happening. No, it can't be._

Karla could feel her throat closing over. There was no way. She was in complete denial of the fact that she had just been selected to compete in the Hunger Games. The Peacekeepers came and forced her onto the stage.

Then, it was time to pick the male tribute.

"Paul Resinworth!"

* * *

 _Should I? Or shouldn't I?_

Taysom had never felt so conflicted. Testicular cancer was highly treatable, right? Even late-stage like this?

But did that make it a better or worse idea to volunteer?

"I VOLUNTEER AS TRIBUTE!"

 _Too late! I did!_

The crowd's jaws dropped, as volunteering was a rare sight in District 7. But Taysom was on the stage in twenty seconds flat. After he announced his name, he was forced to shake hands with Karla.

 _I can take her easily,_ he thought.

* * *

 **District 8**

Jasper was admiring his collection of clothes. He was wondering which of his enormous repertoire of outfits would be the best to show to his boyfriend, Cotton.

They'd been official for a few weeks. However, there were some complications about this. Back when there had been the United States, same-sex marriage had been legal for about a hundred years before the Dark Days.

After the Treaty Of Treason and the Hunger Games came to power, gay marriage had been banned once again. Jasper harbored a lot of hatred for that president. Of course, he could still be with Cotton, they just couldn't get a marriage license. Even so, he felt as though the relationship would be wrong, somehow, if they couldn't seal the deal with a wedding.

But that didn't matter right now. It was time to get ready to go to the reaping. It was his antepenultimate year of eligibility, as he was sixteen. If he was chosen, he would turn 17 on the day he was lifted up into the arena. _Perish the thought!_

There was a knock on the door of the Glossy household. Jasper opened it.

Standing in front of him was Cotton Jin. Jasper's lover was looking as handsome as always, with his wavy platinum-blonde hair and almond blue eyes.

"Uh...Jasper?" Cotton asked.

"Yeah? What is it, Cotton?"

"You look ridiculous".

Jasper looked at the outfit he was wearing. It was green and pink, with golden pants. This was not an outfit that a 16-year-old boy would be expected to wear to the reaping.

"Who cares?" Jasper said. "It's not like we'll be on TV _too_ much".

"Unless you get chosen" his boyfriend rationalized.

Jasper hadn't thought of that. Of course, he hadn't really wanted to, considering that being reaped was considered a death sentence. If he died in the Hunger Games, then he'd probably not care that he had looked ridiculous at the reaping. Jasper didn't believe in an afterlife.

"We'll cross that bridge when we get to it" Jasper said

Cotton had long since gotten used to his boyfriend's quirks. It wasn't as though there were that many other openly gay men in District 8, so he had little choice in the matter. And he did love Jasper.

Cotton had nothing to worry about this year, because he was nineteen, too old to be reaped. He only wished that he could volunteer if Jasper got reaped, but he couldn't do that either. There were both positives and negatives to aging out of the Hunger Games system.

Arm in arm, the couple walked off to the reaping.

* * *

Lace was very nervous about the reaping. After all, she was the most popular girl in District 8, and her friends loved her. She didn't want to leave them. She didn't want to leave this world, either.

Lace's mother walked with her, her 9-year-old sister, Jade, and Logan, who was only four. She had to take out tesserae for both of them, so she had a grand total of 24 entries in the reaping bowl this year. Even though her father was not present, she had to take out for him as well.

The reason her father was absent? It was quite simple. Her father, like the other members of the Werhts family, hated the Capitol with a passion. And so, one day, he blasphemed against them on live TV.

This was not something that the Capitol let you get away with. The Peacekeepers had been called by a neighbor, and Wallace Werhts had been shipped off to the Capitol to become an Avox, an indentured servant whose tongue had been surgically removed, preventing them from speaking. This was not a fate that anyone wanted, but Lace's father had been stupidly brave.

The saying, "If you can't do the time, don't do the crime" is very true indeed.

Now, Lace was giving blood for identification, and then walked over into a throng of her greatest admirers. It was time to choose the tributes from District 8 for the 64th annual Hunger Games.

The escort, a woman with bright yellow hair, took the name out of the girl's bowl.

"Lace Werhts!"

There was no way that anyone was going to volunteer for her. Before long, the Peacekeepers led her onto the stage. Lace had never felt so scared or heartbroken. All of her friends seemed to be protesting as well, but she could barely hear them above her own thoughts.

"Jasper Glossy!"

Lace had barely noticed that the escort had picked a name from the bowl for boys. But she still looked up at who had been selected.

A tall, very skinny boy of sixteen was walking up to the stage. Lace could barely suppress a laugh at the flamboyant tricolor outfit he wore. It was almost enough to cheer her up as they shook hands.

Almost.

* * *

 **Okay, guys! Here are a few things I would like to say:**

 **1\. I made a change to Preston's background. He wasn't supposed to volunteer, he was supposed to be reaped. But I felt that this would make for a more exciting reaping. Normally, there aren't too many volunteers from the outer districts, for obvious reasons, but I did think this was a good idea.**

 **2\. If my writing goes down in quality for the last four reapings, I really am sorry. I get burnt out after a while, and reapings really can get repetitive to write. Even so, I'll try to write as well as possible.**

 **3\. After the last chapter of goodbyes, I intend to put up a poll on who you think will win these Games. This will not influence my choice of winner, which I will choose right after posting this. I will set up a tentative bootlist.**

 **4\. Please review this and tell me if I wrote your character well!**

 **Sincerely, SnowLucario**


	4. Reapings Part 3 of 3

**I would like to apologize in case I ever accidentally type "Aurora" instead of "Paolina". Those two characters do seem kind of similar to me. But it's okay, because I loved Aurora.**

 **For the record, although I am sixteen, I do NOT drive. I haven't even started Driver's Ed yet. But that's okay, because I don't really have any reason to drive myself anywhere.**

 **This could give you major feels. But that's okay, because we all know that fans love feels.**

 **Are you sick of me saying "But that's okay"? I'll stop now. Let's start with the story.**

* * *

In the Wheatlands, the rural part of District 9, there were no real city sounds to speak of. That wasn't what woke people up. There was the sun rising over the grain fields, the long, boring amber waves of it. But that wasn't the only thing, because some people had curtains.

Instead, it was the sound of a machine used to cut down wheat. It then collected it to be harvested, and it would then be used to make bread, the product of District 9 that the Capitol, as well as the other districts, enjoyed. It was so important in Panem that every district had its own loaf, but 9's was just so boring and... _normal._

This machine was being driven by Dax Baylor. He'd only turned sixteen a month ago, so now was the first time that he had been allowed to operate it. He hadn't wanted to use it on reaping day, or at all, even, but his father had demanded it. And there was a very specific reason why Dax didn't want to do this.

As he ran over the sprigs of wheat, he reflected on precisely what this reason was.

The previous year, Dax's older sister, Aurora, had been reaped for the Hunger Games, quashing her hopes and dreams of becoming a biological engineer. Despite this, she had managed to hang in there for a long period of time, riding an alliance all the way to the final seven. And then, she'd gotten slowly crushed to death between a pair of trash compactor walls.

So that was why Dax hated this vehicle so much. Of course, the rest of his family probably did as well, the way it _crushed_ the plants, the same way their daughter had been crushed by those two walls in that abandoned laboratory which was somewhere below the Wheatlands. Already, the Labyrinth arena had been turned into a tourist attraction, just like all arenas did, assuming they hadn't been destroyed.

Now, it was reaping day. This really did bring back the bad memories. Dax couldn't shake the feeling...no, he was sure that he'd be fine. The Capitol had already seen one Baylor child in the Hunger Games. Why did they think that another one would play it any differently. The audience had nothing to gain from watching them, and so Dax would be totally safe.

Boy, was he wrong.

* * *

Paolina absolutely despised her job.

Unfortunately, she was hardly in a position to complain about this. Not only was she a poor citizen of District 9, but she knew that any change would require arming themselves against the Capitol, which would most certainly not end their policies without a fight. And Paolina was a pacifist, which everyone else in the Wheatlands knew.

She woke up on reaping day, feeling grateful but anxious. Grateful, because she didn't have to work today. Anxious, for obvious reasons. Thankfully, she only had twenty entries in the reaping bowl. Her family didn't really need the extra food, but they took tesserae to avoid the neighbors asking questions. That was the thing.

The Guignards couldn't let anybody outside the family know that they were secretly rebels. Very often, instead of the wheat they harvested going to the Capitol, they smuggled it home for themselves. They always made sure to use it sparingly, and put it in the same place as their tessera rations, to make sure that it looked fairly innocuous. Of course, though, it wasn't legal. And they had to be very careful not to get caught.

Not only that, but there had been a lot of outposts in the wheat fields being burned down, and the Guignards had been the ones to start it. Again, if the Peacekeepers found this out, Paolina and her parents would be in a heap of trouble.

Paolina got dressed and prepared for the reaping. She and her parents, Barry and Heather, took a taxi together to the central square. That was the fastest way to get into town from the Wheatlands. You didn't want to be late to the reaping.

After Paolina gave blood for identification, she went over to join her friend, Kacian Lancaster. He was actually a boy, but there was no romance between them. Even so, he was her only real friend. He had no idea of her family's secret, and she intended to keep it that way.

"Hey, Paolina, how's it going?" Kacian asked the girl.

"Bit nervous" she said.

"Look, it'll be okay" Kacian said. "After they call the names, it's all over, and then you're safe for another year".

"I know, I know, but-"

Just then, Paolina was torn away from her friend and manhandled into Section G16, for girls sixteen years of age. The escort, a man with pink hair, gave the whole lecture about the past before announcing, "Ladies first!"

Paolina was silently praying that it wasn't her. Unfortunately, those prayers were not answered.

"Paolina Guignard!"

Her heart dropped. She looked around. Was there any way to escape this? Anyone else who would volunteer for her?

Apparently not, as she was led to the stage, and then it was time to pick the male tribute.

* * *

Dax hadn't been having the best day, but he didn't expect to get reaped. He was shocked when the escort said:

"Our male tribute is...Dax Baylor".

Dax's friends all looked shocked. Another Baylor child was being sent off to die. Dax didn't protest as he was taken onto the stage. He could only imagine how his parents must have been feeling. Sable and Trac...they, too, would be aware of what was going on. Sable, at least. Trac hadn't really had his moral epiphany yet.

He hadn't lost all hope, though. And hope was what Dax would cling to until he'd lost it all.

* * *

 **District 10**

Ordinary. Plain. Not worth the time to get to know her.

That was how fifteen-year-old Ryla Bos would have described herself. She just wasn't that interesting. It wasn't as though she took pride in this, but there it was.

She was walking back from the riding club on the morning of the reaping. Hopefully, no one had seen her, because if she got caught being somewhere she wasn't supposed to be, she could be in serious trouble.

Thankfully, it was only about six in the morning, so she easily snuck back inside. Then, she crawled back into bed and pretended that she had never gotten up in the first place. And she waited it out until her mother called her down to breakfast.

Galina, Polly, Freya, and Equia, Ryla's sisters, were all already at the table. They were being served sausage links by their mother. The whole time, Ryla was just hoping for some way out. When she'd been taught how to lasso and ride horses, she'd felt that she had some hope. She hated home life, with her four sisters. It was pretty dysfunctional, but somehow, they made it all happen.

The only person missing was Ryla's father. He had died in a pretty bad manner. In District 10, some of the men worked in slaughterhouses, which were not the cleanest of all possible places to be. Mr. Bos had caught something there. They didn't know what it was, but it must have been an antibiotic-resistant superbug, because nothing the doctors did would help cure it. And that was the worst part. There had been nothing to be done.

Ryla didn't like feeling hopeless; she'd had enough of that when she was a little kid. While Polly and Equia were on fairly good terms with Ryla, Freya hated her, and the feeling was mutual between the two. As for Galina, she was such an arrogant, stuck-up prom queen that Ryla really wouldn't have cared. And, besides, she was 21. She should be getting out and starting a life. Find herself a man to be with. But, of course, she _had_ to stay.

This year, Ryla had thirty-two names in the reaping bowl. Hopefully, that would mean nothing.

* * *

 _Another boring day._

That was what Dalton thought every morning when he woke up. That was his coping mechanism for his monotonous life. He told himself that every day would suck. That way, he wasn't disappointed when he was proven correct.

He stretched his body out. Looking across the room, he thought about the day that lay ahead. It was reaping day, but Dalton had little to worry about. Only six slips of paper in the reaping bowl containing the name, "Dalton Porter".

Dalton Porter was very wealthy for a seventeen-year-old boy from District 10, especially considering that his parents were dead. This was not a drug-heavy district, but his parents had been drug lords who had been shot down in a battle for gang supremacy. With their deaths, Dalton had inherited many millions of dollars, as well as the family estate, a not insubstantial ranch house located on the outskirts of the district.

The rising sun was blinding. Would there be any time to "pay it forward" as he put it?

That was the one thing Dalton did that he found too much pleasure in, besides hanging out with his friend Wally. He was mainly just a rich loner. The thing about being a rich loner was that you could donate to the poorer people of the district. And so, that was what he did. It made him feel that _someone_ was benefitting from his being on this planet.

But now, it was time to go to the reaping, once it got a little later. Maybe he could deliver some money to others, but he doubted it. His number one priority was to hope that he wasn't chosen. In District 10, wealth did not preclude you from getting reaped. Last year, Bryson Holstein, an upper-class boy, had been reaped for and died in the Hunger Games.

Of course, that didn't necessarily mean that Dalton was in trouble too. But he couldn't help but think that somehow, his way of life would come to an end today...

* * *

District 10's escort was a woman with jungle green hair. In a shrill voice, she announced "Ladies first!"

The escort placed her hand in the reaping bowl for the girls and drew out a name.

"Ryla Bos!"

* * *

 _Good riddance,_ she thought.

At least she was free of her sisters now. But she was still very scared to go off to her death in the Hunger Games. She had no choice, though, as she was led to the stage.

And now, she looked anxiously. Hopefully, Kacian wouldn't be reaped. There would be no way that Ryla could kill her only real friend.

Fortunately, it wasn't Kacian.

* * *

"Dalton Porter!"

Dalton heard his name. He'd been expecting to feel shattered, broken, completely annihilated, at the sound of his name being called to compete in a televised battle to the death.

This was the strange part. The main thing he felt was excitement. He'd wanted an escape from the boredom of his rich life. And all the loneliness. Dalton was an agnostic, but he still held out hope that he might see his parents again in some kind of afterlife. And if he won, he'd probably have lots of friends.

But as he shook hands with Ryla, he thought, _Would they be_ real _friends?_

* * *

 **District 11**

"My Lord, please protect me from the reaping".

As Vander prayed, his hand over the family Bible, he hoped that God was listening. No. He _knew_ that God was listening. For Vander Mordhix was a born-again Christian, and he _knew_ that Jesus Christ had risen from the dead as much as he _knew_ that the sun had risen that day.

He hoped that the Lord would heed his prayer and he would not be reaped for the Hunger Games. The odds were in his favor, after all, as he only had six entries in the reaping bowl. And there were probably tens of thousands of slips in that bowl. He'd be fine, especially with God on his side.

Vander got up and walked outside of the family's large house. Most of District 11 lived in run-down communities of shacks and lean-tos, but Vander's uncle was the mayor of 11, and so his family was far more privileged.

The sun on his dark skin felt very good, and he felt that God was smiling on him right now.

His family might have already left for the reaping, since Vander had slept in until at least ten or eleven. Now, he knew that he needed to get over there. He might still have a little time before the escort took the stage. He would while away the extra time by reading from his Bible and saying his daily devotional. He'd then have to thank God for protecting him for another year.

* * *

Noelle woke very early on the day of the reaping, the lyrics of the song she had been singing the previous night still stuck in her head. She wondered why she had woken up, until she heard the pounding on the door. Then, she knew instantly what was going on.

It didn't do to keep the Peacekeepers waiting. She would have to go to the door and get whatever was coming to her. And that was most likely a whipping, which was not something that she wasn't used to.

Noelle had been whipped many times before for mouthing off to a Peacekeeper. She never seemed to learn her lesson, and her large family never let her forget that. That was worse than any physical punishment, the realization that she had let her family down. But that was the thing. Noelle just never wised up. If she had, she would have stopped being whipped long ago.

"Open up!"

Noelle pushed open the door before the Peacekeepers busted it down. Then, the Peacekeeper among them, a large white man named Erik, said "I think that you are aware what you have done, yes?"

Noelle nodded. The previous day, she had called Erik a name that would have made her schoolteacher faint. No way they would have let her get away with that.

They led Noelle to the whipping post in the central square. Luckily, it was still before sunrise, so there weren't that many people present to witness her punishment. The Peacekeepers asked her how many lashes they should give her. Noelle was tempted to say "zero", but there was no way that they would oblige to that. After all, their job was to punish her for her crimes.

They lashed out at Noelle, making her fall to her knees. She had not recalled just how painful this was. It was like being sick in a way. When you are healthy, you don't think it's that bad to be ill. But when you fall ill, you suddenly think that this is the worst thing ever, and you'll promise yourself that you will appreciate being healthy like never before.

And then, when you get well again, you forget all about it.

They lashed Noelle five times, and the whole time she was trying to keep from crying out in agony.

* * *

Vander reached the section for 17-year-olds. He looked at his Bible, trying to find a verse for the moment. That was what he did.

When the escort, a man with indigo hair, came onto the stage, Vander was thinking of a completely different man: Jesus Christ, who had died for his sins a long time ago. He was barely focused when the girl's name was called out.

"Noelle Withers!"

A small girl with skin the color of peanut butter flinched at the sound of her name being called. She was hauled out of Section 14, crying all the way.

 _I would really not like to be in her company for the next week. Please, my Lord, I don't want to be called. Please..._

"Vänder Mordhix!"

 _Oh, my Lord, why have you forsaken me?_

He quickly flipped to Matthew 27:46, trying to take comfort in that verse in the last seconds before he was led onto the stage.

As he shook hands with Noelle, he was thinking about how, maybe, just maybe, there was some greater purpose to his being chosen. He was glad the Peacekeepers didn't take his Bible away from him. That was all he had now.

* * *

 **District 12**

Jessie was using her crayons to draw a picture. That wasn't unusual for her. She loved art and studying. That was how she put it.

Looking out at the street of the merchant section of District 12, she searched for something to draw. Finally, her eyes alighted on the forefront of the sweetshop.

"Hey, Thel, will you get me that textbook?"

"Which one?" Jessie's sister, Thelvianna, asked her.

"The math textbook" she said. "I need to study for class tomorrow".

It was reaping day, so they didn't have any school today. She was using the extra time to study and draw. Those were her two favorite things to do.

She took out her pink crayon and used it to color the storefront, using the blue to write the letters on the ornately decorated sign that advertised the sweetshop.

Jessie also worked part-time as a butcher's assistant, but, like school, it was off on the day of the reaping. Jessie wished that she could relax, but she still had a sinking feeling that she just might get chosen.

 _It_ _'s probably nothing, I only have four entries,_ she thought.

* * *

In District 12, the sounds of the merchant section of the city woke Flyte up. After all, the streets were his home, and had been for six years. When he was twelve years old, he had run away from his abusive father, Davide Warsaw. Luckily, Davide had not pursued him here. He was safe.

There were, of course, occasionally gangs that came to try to recruit him. He tried to say no as politely as possible, but sometimes he was involved in some fights. But he was never openly aggressive unless he was defending himself or someone else. Flyte's past made him want to help other children in the same situation as him. He never had had that many friends, but the other kids respected him.

That was Flyte's weakness, younger children. Hopefully, it wouldn't play against him in the Hunger Games, if he happened to be reaped. Which would most likely not happen, because he only had 7 names in the bowl. In District 12, tesserae really didn't play as much of a role in determining who was reaped as you might have thought. This was because most adolescents in 12 did take out for tesserae, so there were an extraordinarily large number of names in the bowl compared to the fact that District 12 had the smallest population out of all the districts.

Hopefully, that would mean Flyte wouldn't get chosen, but you could never know.

* * *

Flyte arrived at the reaping in time to watch Effie Trinket give the normal speech about the Dark Days and the Treaty Of Treason. Then, it was time to draw the name for the girls.

"Jessie Martin!"

No volunteers stepped up to take her place, and so a girl from the fifteen-year-old section was forced to take to the stage. And then came the boy's name.

"Flyte Warsaw!"

And, just like that, Flyte's hopes collapsed into nothing. All he could do was scale the steps and shake hands with Jessie.

But he wasn't going to give up so easily. He didn't want to have to kill other children. But, the more he thought about it, the more he realized something:

He had no real reason to return home.

* * *

 **Yes, the District 12 reapings were very short. But I just wanted to get them out, because I'm sick of writing reapings. I'm ready to get to the Goodbyes, and then to the Capitol. Then, things will get less repetitive.**

 **I notice that only two people have reviewed Chapter 3. I hope that more people do, because reviews really make my day, and there are some people whom I want to tell me how well, or otherwise, I may have written their character.**

 **SnowLucario out.**

 **Edit: I went back and added in a missing verb. I'm not getting your reviews in my inbox. It says 17, but I can only access 13. If someone can PM me and give me advice, that would be greatly appreciated. I don't want to lose the views and reviews I already have.**


	5. Excess Express

**You might be asking me why there are no goodbyes. Well, it's kind of a long story. I was really hating writing these, because they are quite repetitive. When I got through District 6, I tried to save and lost it all. So I am now just going right to the train rides. I hope you guys understand.**

 **Anyway, there is some good news. Lorax just reached 500 views, so that's awesome. I can read your reviews through my actual email inbox, but not through this site. It's such an annoying glitch, and I hope they can fix it soon.**

 **Districts with what I judge to be more interesting characters will have a longer segment than those with less intriguing characters. In addition, District 2's is the longest due to the presence of a SnowLucario victor.**

 **For the record, here are the locations again, or at least the central areas:**

 **C: Rock Springs, Wyoming**

 **1: Santa Barbara area**

 **2: Bozeman, Montana**

 **3: San Jose, California**

 **4: Baltimore, Maryland**

 **5: Salt Lake City, Utah**

 **6: Kalamazoo, Michigan**

 **7: Healy, Alaska**

 **8: Rochester, New York**

 **9: Lincoln, Nebraska**

 **10: El Paso, Texas**

 **11: Maycomb County, Alabama (wherever that is)**

 **12: Charleston, West Virginia**

 **13: Farmington, Maine**

 **One last thing: I created Sparkle with type 1 diabetes. I partially got the idea from a tribute from Hoprocker's Hunger Games (trying to avoid spoilers) who had hemophilia. I think that this is slightly less fatal to one's survival. Nothing I say about the disease should be wrong. I have a first cousin with type 1 diabetes, so I know some stuff, okay? I do my homework for these stories, even if I hate it in real life. But that's enough rambling.**

 **Anyway, let's get to the story!**

* * *

 **District 1**

After leaving the Justice Building, Glory was taken into an awaiting car, where the boy who had volunteered, Garnet Golds, was already waiting for her, despite the fact that he probably had a family who had come to say goodbye to him, while Glory had had no one. But that didn't matter anymore. Nothing from District 1 mattered anymore.

It was a ten-minute drive to the train station, and then they were deposited on the platform, where they boarded the train. Garnet and Glory were immediately ushered into what looked like the lobby of a fancy hotel, with armchairs and a coffee table in the middle, for "drinks and feet" as the escort put it.

"So...what were your motivations for volunteering?" Glory asked, trying to make conversation with this boy who would now be her ally. She wanted to know as much about her ally, in case he would eventually become her enemy.

"I basically just want to get noticed, you know?" Garnet responded. He then threw the question back at her. "Why did _you_ volunteer for the Hunger Games? No offense, but you don't exactly look like Career material. And remember what happened to Elegance".

"This is a completely different year, Garnet. Elegance Elysia is dead and buried. As for why I volunteered...suffice it to say I love the Capitol. I would do anything for them. And...I'm _the Capitol's faithful servant._ Elegance was _the weak link of the Career pack_ ".

"Not that I have anything against the Capitol", Garnet said, "but why do you consider yourself the Capitol's 'servant'?".

Glory didn't want to tell this foreign boy her story. But she figured that she was too far along now to back out. So she decided to tell Garnet her story.

"My parents treated me and my brother badly ever since I can remember. But, when I was ten, that was when it all culminated. They killed my brother. And they were thrown in prison. Twenty years to life".

"That's dark" Garnet said. "So what happened next?"

"The Peacekeepers placed me in the community home. That's why I'm so grateful to them. And why I love the Capitol".

"I've heard bad things about the community home in District 1" Garnet said. "So why did you like it so much".

Glory said, "Well, you need to remember the toxic situation I was in. Both of my parents were abusive. And the community home is actually pretty nice. The food there, for instance, is very good. And we got pretty nice beds, too. I just checked out of there this morning, before the reaping".

"You mention the food" Garnet said. "Want to go see? I've heard that the Capitol food is amazing".

"Okay" Glory said. The two of them walked to the refreshments car.

It truly was spectacular. Pieces of fruit were packed in ice. There were bottles of soda, crackers and pretzels, sandwiches, and even pizza. On another table, pastries were arranged on various golden dishes. Gold and purple was the color scheme for the District 1 train, they had been told. Each train had two different colors assigned to it, based on the district.

And the pastries were great in variety. There were tarts of every fruit you could imagine, croissants, donuts, pies, cookies, muffins, and others. It was presided over by an enormous yellow layered cake, as if the cake was the queen of the Pastry Kingdom.

"I'm guessing you didn't see anything like _this_ in the community home" Garnet said.

"You'd be right" Glory replied.

* * *

 **District 2**

As soon as the train pulled out of the station, Brett sat back in his seat and looked out the window at the silver-and-brown interior of the train. As he watched the mountains of District 2 fade away, he reflected on why he had volunteered for the Games. So that he could win Estonia from her father. He held onto this with all of his might.

Twilight was sitting across from him. She had a look on her face that betrayed that she was looking forward to killing him when the Careers disbanded.

It was only going to take a couple of hours to reach the Capitol, as the train moved at a very fast speed. They would have been there in time for the chariot ride, but they had to wait for the other districts to arrive before they could do that.

Suddenly, their mentor walked in. Margaret Malachi, the most recent victor of the Hunger Games, was looking beautiful as usual in her blue dress. She had chosen the complementary color to her least favorite one, which she had said was orange. This was not surprising, considering her worst memory of the arena.

"Good afternoon, guys. We'll be in the Capitol shortly. Any questions for me?" she asked of the tributes.

"Yes" Brett said. "In the Cornucopia, what advice do you have for us?"

"Well, you're Careers, right?" she asked them. Both Twilight and Brett nodded. "Well, of _course_ you go in. Prevent those from the outer districts from getting the weapons. Kill as many of them as possible. And then, you go hunting after the others. In my arena, it was of course a giant maze, meaning that we couldn't really do that. There was no reliable path to anybody. This year, it'll most likely be far different".

"And then what?" Brett asked.

"Well", Margaret said, "you'll need to make sure that you don't get betrayed by your own alliance. In the Hunger Games, you don't get to be the _second_ person to betray your alliance. Anyone who isn't first is dead. Shortly after I left, the other Careers turned on each other. And, also, you should make sure to stay hydrated. Follow my advice, and hopefully we can have another District 2 victor this year".

"Yeah!" Twilight said.

"Is there anything else you would like me to tell you?" Margaret asked the pair of them.

There was nothing. For the rest of the ride, the three of them sat in silence, waiting for their arrival in the Capitol.

* * *

 **District 3**

"So, Gauge, what's your favorite video game?" Zelda asked. Her parents had always told her that this was not the best question to ask someone you had just met. But since Zelda was most likely going to be dead within the next two weeks, she figured that she'd be rebellious. No point in continuing to follow such simple social cues.

"I don't play video games, Zelda. And, considering that we're about to be in the Hunger Games, I think that we should talk to each other as little as possible. That'll make it...easier".

Zelda kept trying to press him, but Gauge wasn't taking it. Finally, she gave up and went to the refreshments car. As she ate a piece of apple pie, she pondered what her strategy would be in the arena. After all, she had a plan. _Align with the Careers._

She took her slice back into the lounge, where she decided that she was going to tell Gauge her plan.

"I want to join the Careers" she said.

"Good luck with that" Gauge snorted. "They rarely ever let outsiders join. You'd have to be really good".

"Well, I'll _get_ good, then".

"Suit yourself" Gauge said curtly. "Personally, I wouldn't touch those fuckers with a ten-foot pole".

* * *

 **District 4**

Memphis was already sitting in a plush teal armchair when Sparkle walked into the room.

After she had passed out on the stage during the reaping, she had been brought around with an injection of glucagon. She'd come to in the goodbyes room, and, after bidding her family farewell for what she sincerely believed would be the final time (she was an atheist), she was led onto the train by a group of medics, just to make sure she truly was okay.

"What was that all about?" Memphis asked. "I noticed that you passed out on the stage just now. Why?"

Sparkle didn't know if it was wise to tell him. After all, she wanted to be in the Career alliance despite not really being a Career herself. She'd need their protection.

If she was to gain their trust, she _had_ to tell Memphis.

"I have type 1 diabetes. I forgot to eat breakfast this morning, and so I passed out from low blood sugar. I need to eat regularly, or else I get low. It's not that pleasant".

"No kidding" Memphis snorted. "Also no problem. But don't tell the others about it. Or else, they might not let you be in the alliance. And my interests before yours, sorry".

Sparkle nodded. She was just glad that Memphis understood where she was coming from.

* * *

 **District 5**

Preston had just signed his life away for his friend. He was looking back at the landscape of District 5, wondering if maybe he shouldn't have volunteered for Ethan. But then he reminded himself that if he hadn't, he would have found it very hard to live with himself for the rest of his life.

"Hey, what's your name again?" he asked his district partner. He'd forgotten it already.

"I'm Gleam Shelder. You're Preston Wagner, right?"

"Yeah" Preston responded. Then, he decided to get right to the point. There was only one thing he really wanted to know about this girl. "Do you want to form an alliance with me? We might survive longer together than apart".

"I don't know" Gleam said. "I think that I'll want to think about it some more. I don't want it to come down to the two of us. But you do seem like a nice person".

"Well, I can't argue with that" Preston said. Then, with a little hesitation, he said, "I also do theater".

"Really?" Gleam asked. "Can you say a line from a play for me?"

"Which one?"

"Whatever line you wish" Gleam said.

Preston turned on his voluntary British accent: "Please sir, may I have some more?"

Gleam laughed, and it almost made her relax a little more about her current situation.

* * *

 **District 6**

It really was sad, Duncan thought. The female tribute from District 6, Jay, didn't look much older than he did. It was always considered a great tragedy to be reaped, but especially if you were younger. Children below fifteen generally had no chance at winning. That much was fairly obvious, and always had been. Life experience, size, and physical strength were all definitely assets in these Games.

Duncan would find it very hard to kill Jay. Maybe he should be in an alliance with her. He decided to voice his idea to her.

"No thanks" she said. "I'd rather walk on my own, don't you understand?"

Duncan did. He didn't know if he could trust his district partner too much either. Eventually, both of them stared out at the fields for the rest of the ride to the Capitol, a journey that neither of them were likely to reverse.

* * *

 **District 7**

Taysom had just thrown his life away, and for what? So that his cousin could possibly die of testicular cancer? That didn't sound good. He'd heard that it had an 80% five-year survival rate at stage IV, but that didn't please him too much. For now, Paul would be enduring chemotherapy, which he definitely didn't think sounded fun. He wondered if, a few weeks from now, Paul would have wished that he had gone into the Hunger Games rather than Taysom.

Whatever happened, though, Taysom had to do his very best to win. And then, he would be able to afford the very best treatment for his cousin. He did love Paul enough for that.

And then, his district partner came in. The younger girl, Karla, was munching on a peach tart, digging into it with a fork to savor it more.

"Where did you get that?" Taysom asked her.

"There's a car with tons of food that way" Karla said, pointing behind her with her thumb. "Why did you volunteer, anyway?"

Taysom let out a frustrated sigh. "My cousin, the one who was reaped, has late-stage cancer. He wouldn't stand a _chance_ in these Games. So, I decided to replace him with someone who might just have a shot".

Karla nodded, clearly buying his story. Of course, it was true.

"Do you want to be in an alliance with me?" Karla asked. The little girl was so cute, Taysom knew that he couldn't say no. It could benefit him as well.

"Sure" Taysom replied.

* * *

 **District 8**

"I've seen you around" Lace said.

"And I've seen _you_ around" Jasper replied.

"Why do you always wear such flamboyant outfits everywhere? I mean, I get that this is District 8, but we take our production very seriously. What is so appealing about such colorful clothes? Are you gay?"

"As a matter of fact, yes, I _am_ gay" Jasper said, clearly annoyed at what Lace had said to him. And he had a right to be. "And there's absolutely nothing wrong with that!"

"I never said there was" Lace protested.

"Sure sounded like it! And aren't you the most popular girl in District 8? You're always going around, head held high, like you own the place. But let me give you a little newsflash, sister: You don't!"

Lace looked angry. Luckily, Jasper had fully blown his fuse by now, and he had nothing left to say. And neither of them did say anything until they arrived at the Capitol hours later.

* * *

 **District 9**

Paolina was very irritated by the whole Hunger Games system. She was a pacifist, and she didn't think that she would be able to stand the guilt of killing another person in the arena. But, at the same time, she knew that she was very afraid of death. She would try everything she could to survive, as long as she didn't have to kill anyone. Was that even possible?

The boy sitting across from her in an amber-and-sky blue armchair was sullen-faced, clearly resigned to his fate. Paolina knew who he was. Of course, she'd heard his name. But even if she hadn't been told his name, she would be well aware of who her district partner was.

"Dax Baylor" she said, and the boy confirmed.

"I'm Aurora's younger brother" Dax said. "I figured that there was no way that I'd get reaped this year. They've already seen _one_ Baylor in the arena, and isn't that enough for them? Don't they already know how I'm going to die? I'll get crushed in between two walls, just like my sister!" Now, Dax was on the verge of tears.

"Just because you have some of the same DNA as her doesn't mean that you're the same person" Paolina said, doing her best to console him. "You can make your own path, Dax".

"It's determined in advance" Dax said. "We can't stop it. There's only so much you can do once you're in the Capitol".

Paolina knew that he was right. There _was_ only so much you could do when you had been forced into the Hunger Games.

* * *

 **District 10**

"Want an alliance?" Ryla asked Dalton, almost as soon as he was in the same room as her.

"I don't know" Dalton replied. "There are advantages and disadvantages to both".

Ryla nodded. She understood. Dalton then said something else.

"Ryla, I'm about to tell you something about my family that might make you hate me. Do you want to hear it?"

Ryla said yes. If she heard a secret of Dalton's that would make her dislike him, all the easier it would be to kill him if she had to.

"My family was really rich. But that's because they were drug kingpins. I've lived in a huge mansion in the ranch region of District 10, and I'm just bored with everything. If I hadn't been reaped for the Hunger Games, I might have volunteered instead. But I do give some of my money to the people who are poorer than me".

"If you win, could you give some to my family?" Ryla asked.

Dalton laughed. "Sure, girl. Does that mean you don't hate me".

"I don't hate you anymore" Ryla said. "But that doesn't mean I want to align with you either".

* * *

 **District 11**

When Noelle walked into the lounge of the train, she saw Vander reading a Bible, as well as chanting something.

"Are you praying?" Noelle asked.

Vander looked up from his holy book. "Yes, I am. I am a born-again Christian. Do you have a problem with that?"

"No, no, absolutely not" Noelle said.

"What do you like to do normally?" Vander asked her. He figured that this was a good ice-breaking question for someone that he just might want to align with in the arena.

"I like to sing" Noelle said. "Nobody else in my family really cares, though. All they ever want to do is work in the orchards. They don't seem to really want anything else out of life".

"What's your favorite song?" Vander asked.

Noelle said, "I would like to say that this song is in a completely different language. Most people don't know the words, but it's fun to make up your own". And then, she began singing in Romanian:

"That was great!" Vander said. "And you can speak Romanian, too!"

* * *

 **District 12**

Flyte and Jessie were both on the train, but they didn't want to talk to each other. They didn't have much to say, and, anyway, any connections they forged with each other would only hurt them later on.

It was a long, awkward ride to the Capitol.

* * *

 **I do not own the song "Dragostei Din Tei". That is owned by O-Zone. I am not claiming to own it, obviously. Unlike some of my friends on this site, I don't include a disclaimer before all of my chapters. In case you are wondering, yes, I copied and pasted the lyrics from another site.**

 **In any case, the next chapter is going to be the chariot ride! We're finally going to be in the Capitol! And then, things will get much more interesting. And hopefully, this glitch will get fixed soon. I want to read your reviews on this site, not my email inbox.**

 **SnowLucario out.**


	6. Iron Chariots

**Hey, guys, it's SnowLucario again. I have some things to tell you about.**

 **First off, although it barely matters to you guys, I have changed my email for this site from my mom's Yahoo account to my Gmail account. I have still been able to read the reviews through the email, and WhyNotWriteFanfiction (the creator of Glory) said that Glory probably wouldn't have been so willing to share her story for someone who was going to be trying to kill her soon. To that I say: she was already to the point where Garnet wouldn't trust her if she refused to tell. So that's my excuse.**

 **Here are the current results of the poll on who you think will win the Hunger Games. No one but me knows this, but I have the boot list in order.**

 **1st: Memphis with 2 votes**

 **2nd: Garnet, Glory, Jasper, Jessie, Preston, Twilight, and Zelda with with 1 vote each**

 **9th: Everyone else with 0 votes**

 **I hope that more people vote before I put up the next poll, which will be on your favorite character. I'd like to remind you guys of the alliances we have right now, based on which districts are willing to align with each other and which aren't.**

 **Garnet/Glory: Yes**

 **Brett/Twilight: Yes**

 **Gauge/Zelda: No, but Zelda might align with the Careers**

 **Memphis/Sparkle: Yes, if the Careers accept Sparkle**

 **Preston/Gleam: No**

 **Duncan/Jay: No**

 **Taysom/Karla: Yes**

 **Jasper/Lace: What do you think? No!**

 **Dax/Paolina: No**

 **Dalton/Ryla: No**

 **Vander/Noelle: Maybe**

 **Flyte/Jessie" No**

 **Honestly, that list is more for me than anyone else. But it might help you guys, too. And with that, it's time to get to the chariot rides!**

 **Disclaimer: This chapter's title comes from a Bible verse, Judges 1:19. I don't intend to offend anyone with this. I am not a Christian, but I thought this title was clever.**

* * *

It was early evening in the Capitol, and the sun was sinking behind the Rocky Mountains. Because of this, it was now time for an annual ritual, and that was obviously the chariot ride, also known as the tribute parade.

It worked like this: The twelve pairs of tributes were currently each in a chariot pulled by a pair of magnificent white stallions. Each district was adorned in a different type of fancy costume, for the benefit of the Capitol's enjoyment. Despite what one might have thought, this was actually a very important event. Reason being, this was the Capitol's first exposure to the tributes after the reaping, and their first real chance to make an impression. Except for the Careers, Preston volunteering for his friend, and Taysom volunteering for his cousin, the Capitol didn't really know who these people were. And it was important to make a good first impression, because that very much increased their chances of getting a sponsor. Sponsors could make or break a tribute at a critical time, so it crucial to secure fans as quickly as possible. After all, it cost exorbitant amounts of money to sponsor tributes, and it wasn't that easy to force even the rich Capitol citizens, who would have to chip in, to sponsor a tribute.

And in the area outside of the training center, that was where the chariots were. The chariots would make one lap around the oval, going past President Snow's mansion along the way, before they returned to the Training Center and got settled in. And then, the next day, they would begin the process of training for the Hunger Games.

The District 1 chariot was first in line. Glory was dressed up in a golden yellow ballgown with flashing lights down the middle. She knew that the Capitol would have to like her in this. As for Garnet, he was wearing a long purple toga to look like an ancient Roman senator. The color scheme had essentially been reversed from the last year, when Elegance had worn purple and Horatio had worn gold, a combination that seemed to perfectly befit the latter's arrogance. But Garnet was, luckily, not nearly as arrogant as Horatio had been. Glory was grateful for that. The Career alliance had to remain cohesive for as long as possible, before the time came to turn on each other.

"They just said we're free to walk around" Garnet said. "Are you ready to check out District 2?" he asked his district partner.

"Sure" Glory said. "The clock's ticking". The tributes only had thirty minutes to walk down the line of chariots before it would be time to return to their own for the ride itself, which was the only part of the whole thing that was televised. And then, it was time for them to show themselves off to the Capitol.

* * *

District 2 was standing right behind District 1. This year, the stylists had clearly decided to go with the theme of Greek mythology, something that was popular in Panem. The tributes were dressed as Aphrodite and Hephaestus, who were married to each other in the stories. Brett was wearing rusty chain mail and holding a large hammer to his side. The prep team had also added a few purple spots on his face and arms to suggest bruises. He looked like he'd already won the Hunger Games.

Twilight was adorned in a provocative seafoam blue dress. The V-neck was so low that it was very embarrassing. Was _this_ the impression they were supposed to make to the Capitol. Well, excuse her, but she didn't want to look slutty in front of potential sponsors! She didn't want them to show off her special abilities, though. She was worried that her surgically enhanced hearing might make her a threat to win, so she had _begged_ her prep team to keep it covered. Which, luckily, they did.

"Do you want to meet the District 1 Careers?" she asked Brett, who nodded his assent. They clambered out of their chariot and met up with them.

"What's your name?" Brett asked the boy.

"I'm Garnet Golds, and this is Glory Asphodel" the District 1 boy said. Garnet was definitely a lot better-looking than Brett, and the latter had no doubt that he would definitely have an uphill battle getting sponsors compared to Garnet.

Garnet was thinking the same thing. The District 2 boy looked like some sort of street con from one of the poorer districts, like 10 or 12. This guy most certainly didn't look like a Career. But, he thought, you couldn't judge a book by its cover. Instead, you should look at its back summary.

"What's your name?" Garnet asked Brett.

"Brett Mason" he said. "And this is my district partner, T-"

"I can introduce myself, thank you very much" Twilight said flatly. "My name's Twilight Shinier, and I'm also from District 2. But I'm sure you knew that already".

"I sure did" Glory said. "Let's keep going. Let's see if there's anyone else who we might be able to get with. Besides District 4".

District 4 was often, but not always, included in the main Career alliance. Sometimes, they were left alone, to fend for themselves. Now, the Careers from the first two districts would try to determine if that would be the case this year.

"Let's get going" Twilight said.

* * *

"Hey...Karla" Taysom said to his district partner.

"What is it?" the younger girl asked back.

"I was thinking...maybe we should get some other people into an alliance. That might increase out chances of survival. Strength in numbers, right?"

Karla thought about it. It _did_ sound like a good idea. And if they had to die, they'd die with more control over supplies, and surrounded by friends. They had nothing to lose. Both of them had slim chances of survival out on their own.

"Let's do it" Karla said. "But we'll have to get to them now, because we don't have all day. In fact, the day's almost over". She gestured to the setting sun in the distance.

"You're right, Karla" Taysom replied. "Let's go".

The District 7 tributes were dressed as trees during the autumn, with leaves in red, orange, and yellow. They looked kind of corny, but hopefully it would endear them to the Capitol audience. After all, that was what their whole goal was during this event.

"Let's go to 8 first" Taysom said. "I don't think that the Careers will be too keen on aligning with us".

"Agreed" Karla said. And then, they set out, searching for anyone to add to their alliance.

* * *

Jasper and Lace were dressed as workers in a nineteenth-century New England clothing mill. They looked miserable in their outfits, especially Jasper.

And Jasper _was_ miserable. He preferred more colorful clothes. He didn't want to look like some kind of handmaiden. He wanted to look more memorable than that. He didn't want to be another archetypical District 8 Bloodbath tribute. He wanted someone to commiserate with.

And that came, in the form of the District 7 tributes. Taysom and Karla had evidently been scouting for allies as well. Jasper was relieved that there was someone who was noticing them, even if it _was_ a group of people who would most likely be trying to kill them in a week or two.

"Hey, guys!" Jasper shouted, making sure that District 7 heard them.

"Hey, what's your name?" Karla asked Lace.

"I'm Lace Wehrts, and this is my district partner, Jasper Glossy" said Lace.

"Those are some crazy last names" Taysom said.

Jasper opened his mouth, his eyes looking threatening.

"But that's not important" said Karla. "We're looking for an alliance. The Careers always have a big one, so why not form our own alliance of tributes from _other_ districts? That'll definitely increase the chances of one of us winning, and considering that we're up against so many people, that's going to be important".

Lace was about to open her mouth to protest, but Jasper said, "Sounds great! Want to check the other chariots out?"

"Sure" Taysom said. "But let's go down this way, towards the District 9 chariot. That'll probably be better. We don't want the Careers noticing us right yet".

The other three nodded in assent. And so, the four tributes in the new alliance walked further down the line.

* * *

District 3 was dressed up in leotards made out of wires going above the arms and around the waists. This was not a particularly modest costume for Gauge, whose chest was clearly visible. Zelda's breasts, on the other hand, were made sure to be very well covered. They didn't want absolutely no sponsors for District 3.

The Careers went up to the chariot. Gauge and Zelda looked very distant from each other, which was because they didn't want to form alliances and cause more pain for each other. That would not be something that they wanted.

Garnet walked up and asked, "Do you two want to join the Career alliance? It's always best to have as many as possible in our group".

Gauge shook his head no, but Zelda perked up a little bit at the suggestion. "Yes, I would very much like to".

"You don't look very skilled, girl. What's your name, again? _Zelda?_ " That was Twilight taunting her.

"Yes, my name is Zelda" the District 3 girl said, not making too much eye contact with the Careers.

"Let's keep her, Twilight" Brett told his district partner. "At least, if she gets a good enough score. I don't want to be with someone _completely useless_ ". He spoke those last few words fairly loudly, putting emphasis on the fact that each individual member of the Career pack was meant to pull their own weight. Inside, of course, he was thinking about Estonia, and figured that the larger the Career pack, the greater his chances of getting back to her would be.

Speaking of completely useless, Sparkle had heard Brett use those two words from the District 4 chariot, a good ten yards away. She didn't want to be thought of that way. She might not have been a true Career, she might have not volunteered, but she sincerely hoped that she could offer them something. Because, after all, her life depended on it.

* * *

The District 9 boy had a sullen expression on his face. He seemed resigned to his fate, looking as though he figured that he was doomed to die a horribly gruesome death at the hands of another sixteen-year-old.

"Wait..." Jasper said. "Isn't that..."

"Yeah, that's Dax Baylor!" Taysom said. "Aurora's younger brother!"

"Well the odds aren't in _their_ favor" Lace said in a slightly snooty voice. It was plain that she thought herself a cut above these lowly people of the Wheatlands of District 9.

"It's cool, guys" Dax said. He and Paolina were both dressed as bakers, with large, floppy white hats on their heads, and each holding a basket of rolls, which they were not allowed to eat. Instead, they were to be made to throw these out at the crowds, which would hopefully endear them to the Capitol citizens and get them to sponsor the District 9 tributes in return.

"But...why are you here?" the girl said. Paolina looked almost as sad as Dax. If these people wanted an alliance with her, she was going to say no. She already knew that. Paolina Grignard wasn't going to kill any other adolescents in this arena. She wanted her hands to remain as clean as possible.

"We're looking for an alliance" the District 7 girl said. "My name's Karla, by the way. What's yours?"

"Paolina Guignard" Paolina said. "And, for your information, I'm not joining any alliances. I'm going it solo. There can only be one victor, right?"

"True enough" Taysom said. Dax was nodding his head, feeling that they were both right on. But he agreed with Paolina's side more.

There was no way that Dax was going to be allowed to win, he figured. Or, the Capitol might make it completely obvious that they favored Dax, to make a huge underdog story. But, really, Dax felt that he was doomed from the start, considering the gruesome way his sister had died.

Dax was just waiting to join Aurora in whatever came after this life, which he strongly suspected was nothing at all. But he wasn't going to go out without a fight. And so, he politely declined the alliance, because he felt that he could only properly avenge his sister alone.

* * *

The District 4 tributes were looking as beautiful as always. Memphis was dressed up in a sweeping teal cape, with a skirt made out of seaweed and a trident. He looked kind of like a human version of Poseidon, the god of the sea from Greek mythology. Sparkle was, well, _sparkling_ in a cyan dress, with images of fish sewn onto it. She looked lovely, and it almost distracted Brett away from the reason he was here.

 _I'm doing this for Estonia Jenkins,_ not _for Sparkle Waters,_ he thought.

That was what helped him face his inner demons. Whenever he felt regret at his decision to volunteer, he forced himself to think of Estonia, and how he had to win in order to get back to her. He couldn't think about his fellow tributes, who might kill him at any moment once they were in the arena. And he _definitely_ couldn't think about a different girl whose name began with the letter "E". That would not be good for him.

"Is the Career alliance still on or what?" the District 4 boy asked.

"Yes" responded Twilight. "It's business as usual this year. What's your name?"

"Memphis Alonso, and, as you can obviously tell, I'm from District 4". Based on his look, the other Careers could tell that this guy was tough. Maybe, although this wasn't common for people in District 4, he had grown up on the streets. His eyes blazed with what appeared to be anger and pain, and it made them a little nervous. Maybe this guy was a bigger threat than most of the other Careers usually were.

"Cool, Memphis, and what is your district partner's name?" Glory asked.

"I'm Sparkle Waters, and I can _introduce myself,_ thank you very much" the girl from District 4 said. "And what are your names? And why is that girl with you? She's not a Career!"

"Zelda, for your information, seems pretty competent to us, but rest assured that we'll be keeping a very good eye on her during training, to make sure that she's worthy. And she wanted to be with us, for one. Can the same be said about you?" Garnet directed this at Sparkle in a sneering tone.

"What makes you think that I am not a worthy member of the Career pack?" Sparkle asked indignantly.

"Well, for one, you didn't volunteer" Glory said.

"If I hadn't been reaped, I would have volunteered anyway" Sparkle said in a firm tone of voice. She was trying to look as calm as possible, so that the other Careers would believe her.

In reality, she hadn't been planning anything of the sort. There was no way that she would have gone into the Hunger Games willingly. Given her condition, it was very unlikely that she would be able to win these Games. The other Careers might not want her around.

Memphis knew, but she couldn't have him telling the others. If he did, then Sparkle was in big trouble. They might not keep her.

Even so, she listened as the Careers introduced themselves as Garnet Golds, Glory Asphodel, Twilight Shinier, Brett Mason, and Zelda Pixelford, and she knew that she would need the protection of as large a number as possible. This was going to be one of the largest Career packs ever.

And she was grateful to be a part of it. Of course, it would have been even better if she hadn't been reaped in the first place.

* * *

Taysom had dubbed their foursome the Underdog Alliance. According to him, it was a fitting name because the four of them were all underdogs, and yet they had the courage to face their deaths in the Hunger Games.

Lace wasn't sure that she saw it the same way. Taysom was seeing the situation through rose-tinted glasses, Lace thought. He had volunteered for his cousin, while Lace, as well as Jasper and Karla, had been reaped, drafted, into the Hunger Games. They would never have gotten into this willingly.

Even so, she had to admit that she very much approved of Taysom's plan to form a large alliance, to compete with the Careers. They could break the two-year streak of Career victories with a winner from District 8, if Lace was lucky. Failing that, a victor from 7 would be nice, because Taysom and Karla seemed kind, even though Lace always felt a cut above them. She always saw everyone poorer than her as living lives of squalor and immorality. That might have been hypocritical of her, considering that her family wasn't very well-off themselves, but that was just the way she saw the world.

Whether this was objectively true or not, this was what Lace Wehrts believed.

Unfortunately, District 10 didn't seem too keen on the idea that Taysom had proposed to them. Dalton and Ryla, adorned in a very childish two-person cow costume, both seemed resolute in not wanting to attach themselves to an alliance, not even with each other. That, Jasper could understand. He didn't think that anyone would really want to be stuck with the decision of whether or not to kill someone that you had spent the entire game up to that point with.

Jasper faced this reality himself. However, he didn't feel too much worry about it. He'd detach himself from the alliance long before the end of the game. If there were two people, final five. If there were three, final seven. Jasper had essentially worked this all out in his head, because he was fairly good at mathematics. The alliance dynamics could certainly be interesting.

But not when people's lives were at stake. After all, 23 other children would have to die so that Jasper could live. And, when it came down to it, he was willing to do whatever was necessary to secure that victor's crown upon his head.

* * *

Preston and Gleam were dressed up in what looked like a bunch of tangled Christmas tree lights, in order to represent their district's industry. District 5, located close to the Capitol, provided them with electrical power.

The Careers asked them if they wanted an alliance.

"No" Preston said. "I'm going it solo, and she is too. Right, Gleam?"

The girl from District 5 nodded. She was clearly more unhappy with the situation than Preston, as her face had a scowl etched into it, while Preston looked like a person from a very old movie that Garnet had seen before... _Diary Of A Wimpy Kid?_ Yeah, this guy was the spitting image of Greg Heffley.

Of course, they wouldn't be joining up with the Careers. What a shame, too. Garnet and Brett both wanted more numbers in their Career pack, and to possibly make Hunger Games history. One year, there had been _twelve_ tributes in the Career group. But that group had disbanded relatively quickly, and those Games had been over by tea time on the fourth day.

No doubt, that Head Gamemaker no longer had a head.

"Come on, guys" Memphis urged the other six members of the pack. "Let's see if District 6 is interested".

"What about 7 and 8, and the others?" Glory asked.

"Well...maybe we shouldn't" Twilight said.

Instantly, Twilight figured that it was the wrong thing to say. Memphis's trident was pointed right at her. Luckily, Memphis was not going to attack her, not when he had so much to lose right now, but he still looked confused and very pissed off.

"I see a large group of tributes there. Like, more than two. And I hear them talking...about an alliance".

Twilight had mild ADHD. And she knew that she had once again made a big verbal mistake. This was her thought process immediately after saying that she'd heard talk about the Underdog Alliance.

 _Oh my God, I can't believe that I just told them that I heard that! They pretty much know now that I have superhuman hearing! I can't let them see me as a threat, or else I might get killed in my sleep...I'd better get all the sleep I can before we enter the arena, because I don't know how I'm going to once we're actually there. I'll always be looking out, paranoid, expecting to get decapitated at any moment. And all because of this stupid, stupid verbal lapse! I really don't want to be targeted. Please, Mom, why did you perform that surgery on me. Please,_ God, _why did you make me hard of hearing so that my mother_ had _to perform that surgery on me? Please,_ Twilight _, why did you have to refuse to wear hearing aids?! Wait, what...that's me! Why did_ I _have to refuse to wear hearing aids and get superhuman hearing?!_

She came out of her bullet train of thought to find out what the other Careers were saying.

"Well", Brett said, "we probably shouldn't look further than District 6, then. In any case, it's not like the tributes from the last six districts ever really have anything meaningful to offer us. It's not necessarily going to be too late to add new members to the Career pack, but I want people who are loyal. And you guys agree with me, right?"

The other six nodded. Twilight was relieved that nobody had suspected her of having enhanced hearing.

* * *

District 11 were wearing tomato costumes. Both of the tributes had dark skin, as far as Taysom and Karla could tell. And both of them seemed to want to join the Underdog Alliance.

Vander was happy with the idea, while Noelle was a little more on the fence about it. But one thing was for certain: they both liked the idea of safety in numbers. Eventually, both of them approved, and they were in.

As for District 12, dressed in their typical miner's outfits, they didn't seem to want to join. Flyte seemed determined to go it on his own, while Jessie didn't want an alliance, which essentially meant the same thing; she was determined to go it on her own.

The now six-strong Underdog Alliance turned around to head back in the opposite direction. But they weren't going back to their own chariots just yet. They wanted to check out Districts 6, 5, and 3, just to see if anyone from those districts were willing to join their alliance. They were of course skipping over the Career districts of 1, 2, and 4.

* * *

The Careers immediately scoffed at District 6. The two kids there were both wearing conductor's uniforms, with the emphasis on _kids._ There was no way that either Jay or Duncan were more than fourteen years old, and Garnet, Glory, Brett, Twilight, Zelda, Memphis, and Sparkle didn't like that. And they weren't going to go farther down the line, either. They only had seven minutes and 29 seconds left until the chariot ride, according to the JumboTron above the square, so it was getting to be time to head back into their own chariots.

Before they could, though, they saw six tributes heading in their direction. At the front of the line was the girl from District 7, which was laughable to Glory. Was _this_ puny little girl really wanting to join the Career pack? Well, excuse her, but Glory didn't think that that would be a good idea. There was no way that Karla, whose name Glory had at least been able to remember from the replay of the reapings that she'd watched with Garnet on the train, would be an asset to their team.

"Are you trying to form an alliance on us?!" Twilight said in an accusatory tone directed at the District 7 girl.

Taysom, standing right behind Karla, looked at her as if he didn't want her to let the secret out. But Karla, if she had noticed her district partner's glare, gave no indication that that was the case.

For several minutes, the two alliances stared each other down, until Karla finally broke the tension.

"Of course we are, what else could we be doing?" she asked.

That only increased the intensity of the glares, and it was clear: this was war.

* * *

One unfortunate effect of this staring contest was that the Underdog Alliance had lost their chance to recruit some people from 3, 5, and/or 6. The buzzer went off, and it was time to head back to the chariots.

The parade then began, and the white stallions began their slow trot around the oval.

District 1 was looking fancy as usual. Garnet was dressed in purple, Glory in golden yellow. This was the reverse of last year, as stated above. The Capitol had no shortage of admirers for this pair. The costumes from the luxury district never failed to get the crowds all fired up in anticipation of the Games. Garnet and Glory both waved at the crowd, making the audience love them even more.

District 2's costumes were based on two ancient Greek deities. Twilight was very well-received by by the citizens of the Capitol in her Aphrodite outfit. Brett didn't excite them as much, dressed as Hephaestus, but the audience could tell that he had heart. Brett wasn't too discouraged by this, because he knew that in his interview, he would disclose his story about wanting to marry Estonia if he won. There would be plenty of time to win the audience back over to his side.

District 3 were looking somewhat generic in their leotards, and Gauge looked somewhat girlish. But the crowd still cheered for them, although some of the citizens were faking it. Zelda's wire leotard was definitely better-liked than the one Gauge was wearing, though, really because Zelda was a girl.

District 4 really pleased the audience as well. All of the Career districts' costumes were usually well-received, but Memphis was looking very attractive in his teal cape. Sparkle looked very nervous in her cyan dress, but she managed to look sexy all the same. They were somewhat turned off by the stench of the seaweed skirt that Memphis was wearing.

District 5's costume looked to the audience like it had been put together very hastily. Preston and Gleam were clearly uncomfortable in their Christmas tree lights, and the worst part was that it didn't even look appealing to the eyes. Preston would rather have been in Scout Finch's ham costume from _To Kill A Mockingbird,_ but he hadn't had any choice in the matter.

District 6's costumes were fairly mediocre; after all, the stylists of the transportation district always immediately made that mental leap to _trains,_ since that was the most widely used method of long-distance transportation in Panem, as well as the only real, legal way to get between districts, not than many people were even _allowed_ to. Duncan and Jay were both fairly small for their age, and so they looked rather like trick-or-treaters going door to door on Halloween night. They really did look more cheesy than cute, and that did not do much to endear them to sponsors.

District 7 were looking beautiful in their tree costumes. Plus, it really was clear that Taysom and Karla had some kind of feelings towards each other. Whether it was a more sibling-like relationship or a romantic one, it would definitely get the audience to root for them. If they wanted to see some exclusive District 7 screen time, though, it wasn't going to be their day. Taysom and Karla had, of course, formed an alliance of six tributes, which they hoped could provide a nice counterbalance to the Career alliance of seven. That plan was going to be put into action in a week.

District 8, unlike District 7, looked very generic. If Lace was irritated, Jasper was _irate._ After all, Jasper loved colorful clothes, and he hated being forced into these stupid handmaiden outfits. He didn't think that anyone in the audience would sponsor him at this rate, especially since he might end up coming off as a token gay guy. However, he wasn't going to give up.

District 9 were supposed to _endear_ the crowds by throwing rolls at them. However, it really seemed to tick them off. It was quite hilarious for everyone save Paolina and Dax. Of course, the other tributes knew that it could increase their odds of sponsorship, and ultimately of victory, and ultimately of _survival_ in the arena. But the tributes from District 9 didn't find it too funny. Dax could feel what little chances he had slipping away.

District 10's cow costume, much like the conductor children from District 6, was seen as very juvenile. It was clear, based on the boos and oohs, that the Capitol citizens either didn't like it or found the cheesiness adorable. Either way, that was not good news for Dalton and Ryla.

District 11's agricultural costumes were also not very popular. At this point, though, the citizens had simply seen too much and already decided their favorites, so this was no big shocker. Noelle seemed very annoyed by the stylists' choices of costume for her and her district partner, while Vander looked more stoic, praying to Yahweh that he would be able to get sponsors.

District 12 came last, and, as usual, they were looking very generic in their miner costumes. The entire crowd mostly forgot about them almost immediately. And then, the twelve chariots passed by the presidential palace.

Coriolanus Snow stepped out of his mansion and made the customary announcement. "Ladies and gentlemen, I welcome you all to the sixty-fourth annual Hunger Games!"

The crowd cheered, but the tributes were all feeling mixtures of excitement and nervousness. The ratio of this varied according to the tribute, but one thing was clear:

This was the true beginning of the Hunger Games.

* * *

 **All right, guys! I'm glad I got this chapter out tonight. Since I wrote the beginning author's note, the poll results for predicted winner have changed. Here they are currently:**

 **1st: Jessie, Memphis, and Zelda with 2 votes each**

 **4th: Garnet, Glory, Jasper, Jay, Preston, and Twilight with 1 vote each**

 **Everyone else is tied for 10th with zero votes.**

 **And with that, that is all! Even though I still cannot read my reviews, I really would love you guys to review, because I'll see it whenever this glitch is fixed. I really hope it's soon. One of my friends said it usually only takes a few weeks, but if anyone has a different experience, please PM me and tell me. But right now, it's time for me to get ready for bed.**

 **SnowLucario out.**


	7. The First Day

**Hey, guys, it's SnowLucario again. This is going to be the fifth to last chapter before the actual Games begin. After this, there will be a chapter for the second day, a chapter for facing the Gamemakers, one where the scores are revealed, and one that will replace the interviews.**

 **I visibly laughed when Labyrinth reached 4,444 views last night. I'm also glad that we got to 25 reviews for this story! I hope that we can make it to more than the last one I did. As for word count, I'm aiming for more than the last one. Hopefully, we can achieve that, but above all, make a good story. I, SnowLucario, will do everything I can to provide that.**

 **After this SYOT, I might take a break from SYOTs, at least for a while. I could do a SYOS Battle Royale scenario. Leave me a review if you think you'd like that!**

* * *

After a night in the luxurious apartments that had been provided for the tributes in the training center, it was time for training. After breakfasting with their mentors, Margaret for District 2, the tributes then took the great glass elevator down to the training room.

The training started at ten in the morning, by which time all but District 10 were present. The trainers were clearly very annoyed that they had to postpone the explanations for another ten minutes, until Dalton and Ryla showed up. Now that the tributes were all seated in a circle, the explanations began.

There were various weapon stations, as well as camouflage and edible plant stations. There was also an obstacle course, fire-making station, and even an arena where tributes could practice one-on-one with assistants. They were, of course, forbidden from fighting with each other. That was to be saved for the arena itself, which wouldn't come for several more days.

After giving the explanation, the Head Trainer, a man named Damasen Sparrow, released the tributes to go to whatever stations they wished to practice at. They only had two and a half days to practice before facing the Gamemakers, and, after that, that would be it until the tributes entered the actual Hunger Games.

Right away, the Careers headed off to the most brutal weapons, in the hopes that they would perform well enough with them to justify their inclusion in the Cornucopia. Garnet took out a spear from the rack and fingered it around, feeling for the best grip. He wasn't used to spearing people through the heart, but he could guess that it was going to be different on a moving target. Even so, he could get the dummy from twenty yards right through the heart, or brain, or whatever part of the body that he was aiming for. He never missed.

Brett looked around for an easy weapon, one that he could gain skills with quickly. After all, he didn't quite have as much training as the other Career tributes did. They were seeing these few days, far more than him, as the time for finalization of all of the skills that they had acquired all over the years. But Brett knew that he seriously needed to work on his weaponry. What was he going to do?

"Brett, are you going to work on your sword skills or not?" Glory pressed him after a while. "You know that you need the extra practice. We all do".

"I will..." Brett said. And then it came to him.

 _Swordsmanship._ He'd always read stories of knights in shining armor, and in them he had always noticed that the hero carried a sword with him. And, after all, he definitely saw himself as a knight in shining armor for Estonia. He wanted nothing more than to return to her and win her father over to his side.

But in order to do that, he had to find honor in the Hunger Games first.

With a little hesitation, Brett reached for the sword. It felt a little unnatural in his hands, but he swung it, being careful not to decapitate any of his fellow Careers. Luckily, the closest one, Glory, was a good seven feet away from him and was not facing too much risk.

Even so, she cried out, "Brett! You've got to be more careful with that!"

"I know, sorry" Brett said. "I'm just practicing swinging it by myself".

"Brett Mason!"

A trainer came running over to Glory and Brett. He then pulled the District 2 boy aside.

"Tribute Mason, we _do not_ attack our fellow tributes until we are actually _in_ the arena! Do you understand me?!"

"Yes" Brett said sheepishly. He knew that his goose was cooked. But the next thing the trainer said surprised him.

"Brett, do you want to fight with me? I can show you the ropes a little more. I have no doubt that you're already good with that sword. But I can make you _better._ Do you want to take your chance?"

Brett nodded. And so, the trainer took him to a secluded area where it was just the two of them. The trainer, whose name was Carrow, was willing to show the tribute some moves with the sword, until the boy had learned to parry well. And then, they actually fought, the trainer and tribute alike both making sure that they didn't seriously hurt the other.

By the end of the battle, Brett was soaked in sweat, and there was a small cut on his arm, which was mended right up by the medical team. Of course, there wouldn't be one in the actual Games, because that was kind of the point. But right now, that didn't matter. Brett was just glad that he wasn't going to be bleeding all through the training period. He needed that time to work on his swordsmanship if he was going to get back to his girl.

* * *

Elsewhere in the room, District 7 was working together on the fire-building station. Karla was getting a pretty decent blaze going. That girl knew how to work wood pretty well, Taysom thought. Yes, that was a very good job.

Taysom, on the other hand, was not having that easy of a time with things. He was sneezing from the things at the camouflage station, a good twenty yards away. Karla finally asked him what was going on.

"I'm allergic to pretty much any form of fauna that is not native to District 7" Taysom explained. "I'm sorry. I should have told you this before. I know you don't want me sneezing and giving away our position to the other tributes once we're in the arena!"

"It's fine" Karla said. "I still need allies. And maybe you can get good with a weapon, and learn how to defend us. But remember, we won't be on our own".

"That's right" Taysom said. _After all, we have up to six people in our alliance. I'm good, and I know Karla's down with it as well. Maybe those other four aren't_ quite _trustworthy, but let's wait until the arena actually comes along to find out. Wait, no, it's important to know right now!_

"Karla", Taysom prompted the younger girl all of a sudden, "what makes you think we can trust these people? Six is a big alliance to manage".

The girl's answer was simple and to the point.

"Because they're in just as bad a situation as us. They are desperate. They'll trust us more than we trust them, probably. They just want any alliance at all. And they will want what we can give them, Taysom. I'm fairly confident of that".

"Good" Taysom said.

"Let's go over to check if 8 and 11 are still down with the alliance plan" Karla said. "After all, you really seem suspicious of their trustworthiness".

 _It's_ _because I have more life experience than you, Karla Sawden. I know that these people might not be trustworthy. When you're older, you'll understand..._

That thought cut off when Taysom realized that they were both going into the arena, and there was no way that both of them could win these Games. The Capitol simply wouldn't stand for it. It was almost certain that Karla Sawden would be forever young. She was thirteen and most likely wouldn't live to see fourteen.

"Sure" he said. "Let's make sure".

* * *

Elsewhere, the Careers were checking to see if Zelda would be a worthy member of their pack. They all congregated at the archery station to see how well she could do with a bow and arrow.

Initially, she wasn't very good at this. She missed the target the first four attempts, but got a bull's-eye on the fifth. And then, on the sixth and seventh arrows, she hit opposite sides of the target before missing the eighth one by a mile.

It was clear that Zelda was a wobbly shooter. But the other Careers refused to give up on her. Sparkle didn't seem nearly big or strong enough to be that great of a benefit. On the other hand, Zelda was tall and fairly well-built. She might be a worthy member. Maybe.

Throughout the rest of the morning, Zelda slowly got better and better with the bow. By lunchtime, they had finally reached the point where she was able to reliably score three points with every shot. She might not have gone into this with much experience, but she sure was a fast learner.

"Great job, Zelda!" Memphis congratulated her. The District 4 boy, who was the largest and most fearsome-looking Career, rarely smiled. His eyes were constantly full of anger and pain, and Zelda wondered if his parents had abused him, or he'd experienced some other tragedy. But she decided not to ask him about that. She'd just won over the Careers. She didn't want to alienate them further.

Her parents, back in District 3, had taught her basic social skills. Since Zelda was on the autism spectrum, this was not something that came naturally to her. But one thing that she had been told was not to ask anyone if anything bad had happened in their past. That was one way to get them mad at you that you really didn't need to do.

And so, that was what Zelda did. She abstained from asking Memphis about his past. And with that, the Careers, as well as the other tributes, headed into the dining room of the Training Center.

* * *

Lunch was a buffet. Food was arranged on carts spaced around the room, and the tributes were allowed to serve themselves out of the various fancy Capitol dishes. Many of them tried to eat as much as they could, because they wanted to put on as much weight as possible before they would enter the arena, much like a squirrel storing up fat for hibernation over the winter.

The Underdog Alliance all sat together, as did the Careers. It was clear that there were going to be two sides in these Hunger Games, and the tension was so thick that a knife might not have been sufficient to cut it. Both alliances tried not to let the other hear their plans.

"So...you guys are still down with the alliance?" Taysom asked the tributes from Districts 8 and 11.

"I'm doing it" Vander said. "It might not be a good chance, but it's our _best_ chance to get a winner from an outer district".

"Me too" said Noelle. She also saw Vander's side that it didn't necessarily make it likely that one of them would survive, but it at least made it more than almost impossible. And really, that was the best that Noelle could hope for.

Jasper and Lace were also both willing to do it. And so, the Underdog Alliance was a done deal.

"So...what do we do when we rise up on those plates, and we have a minute to decide what we're going to do at the Cornucopia?" Lace asked.

"I say we don't run in for too much straight away" Jasper said. "Only the fastest among us should go in and grab weapons. Whatever you can get, and still get out alive".

"The problem is, who _is_ the fastest?" Vander asked. They didn't know how they would determine that.

"How does this sound?" Taysom asked. Since he was the de facto leader of the Underdog Alliance, the others deferred to him for how to approach the Games. They were going to take his advice, as long as it was _good_ advice.

"How does what sound?" That was Lace.

"I say that, after lunch, we run a race around the track here to say who is the fastest. That'll be the person who runs into the Cornucopia for our weapons. The rest of us, let's try to get some backpacks, maybe three total, from the inside. That'll be the best strategy" Taysom said.

What he didn't add was that maybe, just maybe, they could ambush the Careers and try to get some things from the Cornucopia in the middle of the night. That just might work and give them a better chance. And what if the Careers weren't camping at the Cornucopia? Of course, it would be foolish to do that, but say they decided to hunt through the night. Then, things would be even better for Taysom, Karla, and the rest of their alliance.

But he hadn't said that. Hopefully, Taysom wouldn't live to regret it. Or, he might _die_ to regret it.

* * *

Later that day, Jessie and Ryla were working together at the edible plants station. Ryla was used to being in the background. She was forgettable, just an ordinary District 10 girl. That was her philosophy. Maybe she'd become noticed for being the one not to get noticed, which would be pretty sweet irony if it happened. She didn't know how possible that was, or could be, but that was just how she thought it could work.

"Nice job, Ryla! You just got a perfect in edible plants!" Jessie congratulated her.

Sure enough, Ryla had mastered the edible plants game in the Training Center. She was proud of herself for this, at which Jessie was still struggling. After all, it wasn't every day that you just picked up such a skill on the fly.

Meanwhile, Ryla's district partner was working on the weights station. Dalton had often lifted heavy books in his mansion just to pass the time until his next philanthropy mission. Because of this, he quickly went from thirty to forty pounds. He was going to use this to impress the Gamemakers. They'd make sure to give him a good score, because he really wanted some sponsors, if he was going to win this thing.

"Bad idea, Dalton".

Dalton turned to find the boy from District 6 looking over at him. Duncan was so much smaller than him that the thought of this little kid bossing Dalton around was simply laughable.

"If you build muscle now, you'll burn more calories in the arena. You don't want that. You want your weight to last a long time once you're there".

Dalton knew that Duncan had a point. Still, though, he was sure that he would be okay. He'd be eating as much as he could over the next several days, so he could last as long as possible.

"Thanks for the tip" Dalton said. "Do you want an alliance, kid?"

Duncan said that he didn't. He just wanted to go it alone, since there could only ever be one victor. Dalton saw where the younger boy was coming from. Even so, he wished that he could find a way to get it into his head that he'd last longer with an alliance.

* * *

Elsewhere in the Training Center, the District 5 tributes, despite not wanting an alliance, were working together at the knot-tying station. Gleam thought, for sure, that Preston was going to ask for something, whether it be an alliance or something else in the arena.

Gleam was going to say no. She didn't need to worry about that, however. Preston simply worked in silence on the knots, while Gleam did the same for her own.

Gleam looked at the clock. It was almost five in the afternoon, which was when training would end for the day. She knew that she wasn't going to get too much out of the last several minutes. Instead, she decided to observe what else was going on around the room.

The Careers were practicing with the deadly weapons, which was business as usual for them. Brett swung the sword around like it was nothing, and Garnet was very, very deadly with his spear. The girls were also pretty good with their respective weapons.

Gleam felt more alone than ever now.

* * *

 **I know that's short, but I have now decided on a new schedule.**

 **I'm going to be starting a Star Fox fanfiction today, while writing for this one as well. As soon as one of them is done, or almost done, I will put out the submission form for a SYOS Battle Royale.**

 **SnowLucario out.**


	8. The Showing Of The Skills

**Hey, guys, let me tell you something. Do not trust what I say in author's notes about my future plans. They change quite a lot.**

 **In other news, I got my flu shot today. I am anti-anti-vaccine movement, because it's been debunked. I really think that 2 seconds of pain is worth avoiding 2 _weeks_ of pain. I know it's not 100% effective, but still. I've got a friend who can't get the flu shot because he's allergic to eggs, so I'm doing this a BIT for him. But I'm sorry for rambling. **

**I apologize for not including as much in this chapter as there was initially. A large part of it got deleted on Sunday morning, for reasons I don't know. This is still going to be a long chapter, though. Hope you enjoy!**

* * *

The following day, the Careers congregated once again at the archery station. They had one clear purpose for doing so, and that was the finalization of whether or not Zelda was fit to be a member of the Career pack.

She nocked an arrow and it hit dead center, a lucky break for her. It was then time for the other six members of the Career pack to vote on whether or not Zelda would be in it.

"I vote yes" Sparkle said. "She's definitely skilled with a bow. And she can help us hunt down the other tributes".

"I vote yes as well" said Glory. "The numbers don't lie. Seven is better than six, and Zelda makes seven. We now cover more than a quarter of the total tributes. I think that that gives us more than enough numbers to take control of the Cornucopia".

"Hold on!" Garnet objected. "We don't know if she'll be able to hold her own against the others. And we want people who can defend themselves. Besides, who's to say she won't try to kill us all in our sleep?"

"We won't let her be on guard" his district partner said. "We'll make sure that she doesn't do that".

"I also vote no" said Twilight. "She's just not proved herself yet. We'll have to wait to see how she does in training before we can say for sure that she is worthy to be a Career".

"It's down to Brett and Memphis" Sparkle said. "Whatever they can agree on, goes".

Garnet glared at the District 4 girl. "Who put _you_ in charge?"

"I'm not the leader of the Career pack" Sparkle said. "I'm just saying how I think we should do things".

"But that makes you the leader" Garnet pointed out.

"No, it doesn't" Brett responded. "I vote yes, Zelda should be in the pack. Memphis?"

"I'm the swing vote, I guess" Memphis said. His cold eyes flashed as he said, "My vote is no".

"We're tied" Brett said. "How are we going to resolve this? How about we just see how she does in training? If she gets a 7 or higher, we'll keep her. If she gets a 6 or lower, she's on her own. How does that sound?"

The other five current members of the Career pack all gave a thumbs-up at that. And so, that was how it was going to go. Zelda Pixelford would, in her training performance, determine whether or not she would be allowed to be included in this pack of highly trained tributes.

* * *

Meanwhile, Gauge and Flyte were at the stations for their respective weapons. Gauge was practicing with a bow, which he could barely use. But he'd heard stories of people mastering archery easily, so he was determined that he would get good enough at it to win these Games. Flyte, on the other hand, was exercising his own brute strength. His club skills were unmatched. Well, not _unmatched,_ but he was very good at it, and it made Gauge jealous. He wished he could have been as skilled with a club as the District 12 boy.

At the same time, Dax and Paolina were together, although they had been trying to avoid each other as much as possible. They were both working on building fires, which Paolina seemed to pick up very well. Dax, on the other hand, was clearly struggling. This was not the easiest thing to do for him, being from District 9. It didn't help that he was nervous as hell the whole time.

He was pretty sure he was going to die. But would it be in such a brutal fashion as his sister's? Only time would tell, and Dax didn't think he had much more.

Neither did Paolina. She was working fervently on building an inferno. When that was done, she went over to the weapons rack after extinguishing the blaze. Of course, since she was so opposed to attacking another human being, she was hesitant. However, she eventually selected one that she thought she could use rather well, being from the farming district. A trident.

She had to push herself to be able to swing it around. It wasn't going to be easy to kill another person, but she felt that she might, just maybe, be able to do it if it was absolutely necessary. Which, hopefully, it never would be.

A younger girl ended up next to Paolina. Of course, this didn't look like too much of a difference, because Paolina was fairly small for her age. But she could still tell that it was the girl from District 6, Jay.

Jay picked up the mace and said, "Hey, you might want to get out of the way". Which Paolina did, of course.

Jay was pretty good with the mace, Paolina had to admit. This made her somewhat afraid of the younger girl. But she didn't want to show it, not when she still had a few more days to live. She didn't want to live out those precious hours in fear.

* * *

In the meantime, Preston was also working on his weaponry skills. He tried his skills with throwing knives. He hadn't had any particular plan but to use any weapon that he could get his hands on. With that, he decided to keep on hoping that he could simply get good.

It got easier and easier to hit the target with precision. He felt sure that he could get a good training score, but there was no way that he was willing to join the Careers? There were simply too many people in that alliance, and he didn't feel that he could trust any of them. Was he too paranoid? He didn't know if he wanted to take his chances and find out.

And so, Preston kept on thinking about his own strategies to work on how he would get into the Cornucopia, grab his knives, and then get out of there. He wasn't going to align with Gleam, though, because he wasn't looking for that.

Maybe, just maybe, he could get a good enough score to get sponsors.

* * *

Taysom and Karla were together at the obstacle course when the other members of the Underdog Alliance came over to talk.

"We are still on, right?" Lace asked. She wanted to make sure, even though their answer had most likely not changed.

"Yep. We're doing it, all right. We're just trying out the obstacle course, seeing how fast we can get" Taysom said to the District 8 girl. "Do you want to do it too?"

"I definitely do" Noelle said, from behind Lace. She looked ready to get into the arena, that confident. Taysom decided not to point out that she was most likely too young to have any chance whatsoever of winning the Hunger Games. By that logic, Karla didn't either, so that was why he decided to keep that as a bubble thought.

Just then, Karla finished the obstacle course. When she asked what her time was, the attendant at the obstacle course said that she had completed it in a time of forty-seven seconds, faster than 94.7% of tributes that went through it.

Karla was extremely proud of herself for her speed. Maybe she could get a decent score in front of the Gamemakers, when each individual tribute had their private sessions tomorrow.

"It's your turn, Noelle" Jasper said to the District 11 girl. Noelle took that as her cue to start. She made it through the net crawl with little trouble, and she was also very good at the monkey bars. The thing that hung her up most was the balance beam, though. She fell off of it not once but twice, which most certainly hindered her time to no small degree.

When she finally finished, she had taken a good minute and twenty seconds.

The other tributes went through it as well, but they didn't do nearly as well as Karla had. Still, though, the Underdog Alliance was going to stay loyal to each other. This made Taysom feel that they had a chance against the Careers.

* * *

The following day, Glacier was sitting in a chair, looking out over the training room. It had come time to judge the tributes. He'd been warned just how arduous of a job this could be, but he'd still insisted on doing it. After all, that was what he was required to do as the Head Gamemaker.

He'd been told that a buffet would be coming in eventually, but probably not until the later districts, which sucked. Glacier's stomach was growling, due to the fact that he hadn't eaten lunch yet. Hopefully, the food would come in soon.

Glacier's assistant handed him a list of tributes. This was the schedule that would be followed for the individual training sessions.

 _1:00 PM- Garnet Golds, 18_

 _1:15 PM- Glory Asphodel, 18_

 _1:30 PM- Brett Mason, 18_

 _1:45 PM- Twilight Shinier, 17_

 _2:00 PM- Gauge Cypher, 17_

 _2:15 PM- Zelda Pixelford, 15_

 _2:30 PM- Memphis Alonso, 18_

 _2:45 PM- Sparkle Waters, 16_

 _3:00 PM- Preston Wagner, 17_

 _3:15 PM- Gleam Shelder, 17_

 _3:30 PM- Duncan Lane, 13_

 _3:45 PM- Jay Jordan, 14_

 _4:00 PM- Taysom Resinworth, 17_

 _4:15 PM- Karla Sawden, 13_

 _4:30 PM- Jasper Glossy, 16 (turns 17 on Launch Day)_

 _4:45 PM- Lace Wehrts, 15_

 _5:00 PM- Dax Baylor, 16_

 _5:15 PM- Paolina Guignard, 16_

 _5:30 PM- Dalton Porter, 17_

 _5:45 PM- Ryla Bos, 15_

 _6:00 PM- Vander Mordhix, 17_

 _6:15 PM- Noelle Withers, 14_

 _6:30 PM- Flyte Warsaw, 18_

 _6:45 PM- Jessie Martin, 15_

"Looks like a good list" Glacier said. "But that's our schedule. Six hours of this. Why did I sign up to be the Head Gamemaker again".

"It's because you have the best arena ideas" his assistant said. "And plus, you shouldn't say that, because then they might think you want to be hanged".

"Right".

Glacier had been told that the buffet wouldn't arrive for a while, not until the later districts came in to show off their skills. This annoyed him to no end, because he had had to skip lunch in order to head here. At least he wasn't a type 1 diabetic like Sparkle. That girl would have no chance in the arena, he thought.

Even so, it wasn't going to be fun to judge tributes on an empty stomach, but that was what he had to do.

It was time for the first tribute to come in. Garnet Golds was looking as confident as usual with his hair neatly combed back. _Let's see how it looks once he's in the arena,_ Glacier thought.

"Today", Garnet said, "I will show off my spear. Then, I will show my skills at the obstacle course, and in hand-to-hand combat".

"Hold on" Glacier said. It must have felt weird for Garnet to take orders from someone a year younger than him. "We are quite limited in the time that we have. Please select one talent to demonstrate, and that is what we will score you on. Nothing else".

"Fine" Garnet said. "I'll just use the spear, then".

Garnet took a spear from the rack, and began throwing them at the dummies. From five yards, he got it straight through its heart. From ten years, he was able to do exactly the same thing. And fifteen.

 _This guy is good,_ Glacier said. _He definitely seems like victor material to me._

Garnet made it all the way to thirty yards. At his sixth distance, he threw it with a little less power than he probably should have. But he was satisfied that he would get one of, if not _the_ best, scores of the tributes, maybe even better than the other Careers. He believed that he could be so fortunate in that regard.

"Nice job" Glacier said. "You're dismissed".

Garnet turned around and left. When he was out of earshot, Glacier said, "I think that warrants an 11 or 12, right? I know you don't give those scores out very often, but I definitely think he deserves one of them".

"No, he doesn't" the Assistant Head Gamemaker said. "One to ten is the standard, and eleven and twelve are reserved for people who we want to mark as a target. Last year, the reason Hades Blackett got an 11 was because he wounded one of our trainers with his axe. The reason Ted Shaw got a perfect twelve was because he was the most wanted criminal back in District 9. So Garnet doesn't get a twelve. He gets a _ten_ ".

 _Okay,_ Glacier thought. He marked a ten on his notepad next to _Garnet Golds._

"Next tribute!" he announced.

In came the District 1 girl, Glory Asphodel. She announced that she was going to demonstrate her talent with a sword, to which the Gamemakers said that she could, but Glacier had a question for her.

"Do you want to spar with a trainer?"

"Yes, of course I do" Glory responded.

"Okay...Ky! Spar with Glory Asphodel here!" Glacier ordered.

"But..." Ky, one of the trainers, tried to protest, but Glacier was adamant that the District 1 girl be allowed to do whatever she wanted to get a score higher than her predecessor, Elegance Elysia.

 _Hopefully, she doesn't faint this year. That was a hassle of a situation to deal with,_ Glacier thought.

Glory went over to the weapons rack and grabbed a sword. It was similar to an ancient Greek spatha, because Glory sure did love Greek mythology. She looked over at Ky, who was prepared to duel with her.

"Not to the death" Ky said. "Just first blood, okay?"

"Okay" Glory said.

Glory went out swinging, but Ky was expecting it. The trainer was most certainly an expert at parrying, but Glory was just trying to get in as many attacks as possible in order to prevent Ky from attacking.

After a good two minutes of this, Ky was finally disarmed. Glory had won the battle, but not the war. She still needed to win the Hunger Games, and to do that, she had to get through the next few days, as well as perform well in her interview with Caesar Flickerman.

"Nice job, Miss Asphodel" Glacier said. "You may go".

Glory made a curtsy before leaving, and then Glacier discussed her score with the other Gamemakers. When the fifteen-minute timer went off, he called in the next tribute.

It was Brett Mason of District 2. Glacier's first impression of him was that he most certainly did not _look_ like he was from District 2. His hair was greasy, and he looked as though he had never had the time or money to set it neat. This looked like something you'd find in District 10, not District 2.

"Good afternoon" Brett said to the Gamemakers.

"Same to you, Brett. Will you please get going with whatever you wish to show to us today?"

"Sure thing" the Career responded.

Brett went and grabbed a sword, not as long as the one Glory had used. It was perhaps two-fifths of his height, his height being six feet, one inch. He then called for a trainer to duel him. Not Ky, but someone who was fresh.

"I'll do it" trainer Xander said. Ky was clearly too tired-out from his spar with Glory, Glacier figured, to be as good against Brett. It was important to use a new trainer for every battle because of this, so that the tiredness factor did not affect the scores.

And it was a good thing, too, because Brett was clearly not as skilled as Glory. He was disarmed easily after three minutes. A small cut was made on his left arm, which was quickly bandaged up. And then, he was dismissed.

Brett walked out, not feeling very confident about the score that he would get. He figured he'd be lucky to get an 8.

"Next tribute!" Glacier Jackalburg called out.

Twilight walked in and announced that she was going to demonstrate her talent with ninja stars. That was a little surprising, because that had been the exact same weapon that Margaret Malachi had used to win in the previous Hunger Games. That, and her ability to survive heat slightly longer than Vixen Ford.

"Sounds good" Glacier said. "Now get to it".

Twilight grabbed five throwing stars and aimed for the target. She hit four out of five targets, the last one appearing to be completely in, but it bounced off the edge at the last second, which was beyond frustrating for the District 2 girl. All she wanted was to get a perfect ten.

She threw her five stars ten more times, only missing once more.

 _Well, I got nine out of ten, and four out of five. That means I got an average of 86.67%, thirteen out of fifteen. That should be a nice healthy 9 if not a ten, right? Because I really wanted to get a ten, but if that's absolutely impossible for me, I'll take a nine. Maybe I won't have as big a target on my back. I don't want them to_ _see me as another Margaret Malachi. That is, unless and until I win. Maybe I can get a few more throws in..._

"Twilight Shinier", Glacier said, "you may go".

Twilight walked out of the room, hoping that she'd earned at least a nine or ten.

Glacier Jackalburg once again consulted the tribute list he'd been provided with an hour ago. _Had it really been only that long? I'm so fucking hungry...I have the appetite of Maximum Ride today._

Gauge Cypher of District 3 was next up. He stated that he was going to demonstrate his skills with a bow and arrow, which was nothing unusual for the Gamemakers. There were a lot of archers that entered into the Hunger Games, whether they be Careers or reaped tributes who would never have wanted to enter the Games in the first place, but were simply drafted by luck of the draw.

Everyone felt bad for those tributes, except for the fact that they would get to escape their crummy lives earlier than usual. In non-Career districts, people were often poor and oppressed. Not like Glacier cared. Right now, he was simply focused on the task at hand.

Gauge took out a bow and a quiver of arrows. Then, he leveled his bow, nocked an arrow, and released.

He didn't hit dead center, but he got close to it. However, his next two shots missed, and his fourth almost hit the Gamemakers. Luckily for Glacier and the others, there was a force field protecting them from any harm.

Finally, Gauge made two bull's-eyes in a row, a very lucky break for him.

"Okay. We have seen enough. You may go" Glacier said.

Gauge took a bow and left the room.

In came Zelda Pixelford, the District 3 female. According to the bio Glacier had received of her, she had Asperger's syndrome, just like Glacier himself. Of course, he wasn't going to tell her that. It would be completely unnecessary, and he didn't need Zelda seeing him as a human being. The Gamemakers were supposed to be as intimidating as possible to the tributes.

Zelda, just like her district partner had before, selected a bow and arrow from the weapons rack. She leveled it and nocked an arrow. Despite the fact that her arms were shaking a great deal, she managed to steady them enough to get a straight shot to the center of the target.

She released. The arrow flew through the air and hit the nail on the head, right in the center of the target. Yellow was at the center, surrounded by red, blue, black, and white in that order. It was quite impressive, Glacier thought, but he had to see more of this fellow Aspie's skills.

Zelda hit the edge of the target twice in a row, but she did manage to get an arrow in the red, and one in the blue. Over the course of the five arrows in her quiver, she had not once missed the target completely. No matter what score she would end up getting, she could at least take some comfort in that.

* * *

It was now time for District 4. They were a quarter of the way done with this arduous task.

In came Memphis Alonso. The tall, muscular boy looked very intimidating, and the Gamemakers were all glad that they were safe behind their force field.

"Good afternoon" Memphis said. "Today, I intend to show off my wrestling skills, as well as my abilities with a katana".

"I'm very sorry about this", Glacier said, "but please select only a single talent to demonstrate. We only have so much time".

Memphis did not seem too keen on taking orders from this Head Gamemaker a year younger than he was himself, but he pointed at a trainer named Fry.

"You" Memphis said. "I want to wrestle with you, what's your name?"

"Fry" the trainer said.

Memphis and Fry took to the wrestling mat. Right away, it was clear who was better at it. Memphis easily pinned Fry down to the ground, and never let the trainer get a single lucky break. He easily won, and he felt very confident that he'd come away with at least a ten, maybe even eleven or twelve, reserved for the very elite Careers, or maybe some other tributes. But, since the other tributes besides the Careers were usually not nearly as well prepared for the Games, that never happened.

"You may go" Glacier said.

Memphis left the room, already looking forward to reading his score on the TV in his Training Center apartment. That would be a pretty awesome feeling.

Memphis was quick to be replaced by Sparkle Waters, from District 4. According to Glacier's bio on her, Sparkle had type 1 diabetes. Given that, she probably had very little chance of winning. Glacier felt bad for her, but there was no way in hell that he would take her position.

Sparkle went over to the edible plants station. She was pretty nervous for this, because she hadn't gotten very many new skills during training, but she also didn't have any weapon skills to begin with. Instead, she knew, this might help her keep her blood sugar stable if she had to go without food, which was very likely to occur during the Hunger Games.

Of course, Sparkle hadn't had too much time to master this skill, just like she hadn't had much time to work with weaponry. She showed only a basic understanding of how these things worked. Hopefully, though, the Careers would still want her, but she felt that she was deluding herself. She felt like a Mark Twain quote that she didn't like very much: _Faith is believing what you know ain't so._

Sparkle might have been an atheist, but she knew that faith wasn't believing what you _knew_ _was false._ That was called _willful self-delusion._ Faith was believing what you didn't know was so. Sparkle knew that her belief with regards to being allowed into the Career alliance was probably "faith" in the way Twain defined it.

"You may go" Glacier said eventually, putting an end to Sparkle's misery.

In came the District 5 boy. Preston Wagner, who had volunteered for his best friend, was looking more stolid than usual today. In his training uniform, he looked like he was getting ready to teach a college class, rather than show off his best methods of killing other teenagers.

Preston announced that he was going to demonstrate his talent with throwing knives. He was pretty good at it, already having picked up the skill fairly quickly in the Training Center. His dark brown sprigs of hair rustled as he hit the target with a loud thudding sound. In his first five throws, that had happened all five times. He missed once on his twelfth knife, but that was the only time in all twenty knives he threw. It was a little jarring to hear the knives dig into the dummy's flesh.

But it sure was satisfying, and Preston felt that he could get a pretty good score.

When the Gamemakers dismissed him, he left with his head held high, hoping for an 8.

The next tribute to enter the room was Gleam Shelder. Her dark hair, which usually shone in the sunlight, was looking darker than ever in this underground room. But that was irrelevant, Glacier Jackalburg reminded himself. Their job was to rank her based on her performance.

Gleam went over to the weapons rack and grabbed an axe. She then asked for some dummies.

The Gamemakers granted her request, and in three minutes a row of ten dummies was set up in front of her. She swung the axe, which easily cut halfway through the dummy. She swung again, and the dummy was completely dead, which was a dumb thing to say since a dummy was never even really alive in the first place. But Gleam was pretty good with an axe.

Glacier watched as Gleam cut through the rest of the row, barely panting at all. Finally, she reached the end.

 _That was an impressive showing of her axe skills,_ Glacier thought. _We could give her an eight. We could._

Gleam took her leave from the room, and left.

 _Ten down, fourteen to go,_ Glacier thought.

In walked Duncan of District 6. The boy had virtually no chance of winning these Games, since he was only thirteen years old. That wouldn't stop him from trying, though.

The youngest boy in the 64th Hunger Games went over to the weapons rack and grabbed a dagger. He requested to spar with one of the trainers, and his request was granted. This trainer, a woman named Cassia, was going to go fairly easy on the boy, but Duncan was not told this.

Duncan and Cassia went to battle. However, it quickly became clear who was better with a dagger. Duncan tired easily, and Cassia was parrying more and more of his blows, until Duncan was finally disarmed. Cassia had inflicted a long, thin wound on Duncan's right arm.

 _Do I really need to get him to go to the infirmary?_ Glacier thought. _Of course I do. We can't have him wounded entering the Games._

"Take him to the infirmary for treatment!" Glacier ordered. Duncan was walked away towards the medical room.

Glacier sat back and let out a deep breath. One more tribute down. One more, and they would be halfway through.

In came Jay Jordan of District 6. According to his notes, Jay came from the infamous Jordan crime family. They'd have to bump her score up for that, to put a target on his back. Glacier would make sure to tell the other Gamemakers that after she was done with showing off her skills.

Jay went over to the weapons rack, as so many other tributes had prior to her, and grabbed a mace. She requested to spar with a trainer, and Cassia, fresh from her fight with Duncan, volunteered to do it.

Unlike with Duncan, this fight was not nearly as one-sided. While neither of them were particularly aiming to hurt the other, Jay certainly did a good job of making it look like she was going to. She definitely got in some good hits before being disarmed.

When Jay was dismissed, she walked out with her head held high.

"Before we move on to Taysom, I want to tell you guys something" Glacier said.

"What is it?" the assistant Head Gamemaker asked him.

"I think that Jay's performance warranted a seven or so. She's not the most skilled with a mace that we've ever seen, but according to this bio, she comes from a crime family back in District 6. I think that we should give her higher than 7. A ten, perhaps?"

"To raise her target with the Careers?" the assistant Head Gamemaker said. "Great idea, Glacier!"

And so, Jay Jordan was going to be in for a surprise when her score was broadcast that evening.

* * *

"Your food, sirs and madams".

Glacier looked behind him to see that their meal had been brought in. Mashed potatoes, turkey, foie gras, and lots of other fancy foods were arranged on carts around the room, not unlike the dining room for the tributes.

"Thank you! Took you long enough!"

"Glacier, show some gratefulness!" the assistant Head Gamemaker said.

Glacier sheepishly addressed the cooks. "Sorry, guys" he said.

"S' no problem" the chef said. "Please, eat up. And continue with your job of scoring tributes".

"Okay" the Gamemakers said in unison.

In came Taysom of District 7. He announced that he was going to demonstrate his ability with throwing knives. Again, a lot of people did that, but if that was truly Taysom's greatest skill, he might not stand out too much. Sometimes in the Hunger Games, though, you didn't _want_ to stand out.

Taysom proved to be average to above average at it. Certainly, he had a lot of physical strength. He was very tall and muscular, probably from working with wood back at home in District 7.

But his aim left much to be desired. He only hit the target one out of every three throws. When he was done with his twenty knives that he had been provided, he had only managed to be on target seven of those twenty times.

But he was pleased with how he had done. He wasn't aiming to get the _best_ score, just a _decent_ one. He'd definitely show them what he was made of once he formed the Underdog Alliance in the actual arena. Then, they'd fall all over themselves to sponsor him in the Capitol. Just watch.

One half of District 7 was done. Over the last two days of training, the Gamemakers had been watching the tributes, and they had seen how the lumber district's tributes were forming an alliance with two other districts, in order to counter that of the Careers, and hoped that that would work. Even if it did, Glacier was aware that there was one key difference: the Underdog Alliance did not have any prior training before arriving in the Capitol, except maybe Taysom.

In walked Karla Sawden. Along with Noelle and Duncan, she was tied for the youngest tribute in the arena this year. Typically, there was at least one twelve-year-old, but this year that was not the case. Karla went over to the weapons rack and announced that she was going to demonstrate her knife skills. But instead of throwing them at the target, she decided to show them something unique.

Karla placed in an order for a watermelon, which took two minutes to arrive. When it did come, she sliced it easily into twenty pieces. Then, she took one piece and took a dinosaur bite into it.

 _Well, at least that's unique,_ was the best thing Glacier would be able to say about Karla's performance in training in weeks to come. It wasn't that complementary, but it was the nicest thing he could come up with.

Seven districts down. Only five districts were left.

The next person was Jasper Glossy of District 8. According to his bio, he was gay and he loved fancy clothing. He looked ready for action in his training outfit, walking over to the weapons rack and picking up the same set of throwing knives that Karla had chosen. Then, he approached the target and threw his knives.

The first three all missed, but the next three all connected. That pattern maintained itself, so by the end of it all Jasper had twelve misses and eight hits. It wasn't that good of a track record, and Glacier took note of this. He then dismissed Jasper and sat back in order to welcome in the next tribute.

Lace did something that so many tributes before her had done that it would most definitely end up hindering her score. She selected the throwing knives. She decided to take the same path that Karla had, rather than Jasper. She figured that enough people had thrown the knives at the targets that the Gamemakers would be getting sick of it, so she would try to do something that they would like better.

Of course, she would end up being right.

Lace placed in an order for five meters of bratwurst. It took a few minutes to arrive, as usual, but once it was there, she began cutting it up with the precision of a surgeon. This certainly looked impressive to the Gamemakers, she figured. _After all, I_ am _Lace Werhts. I am the best girl in District 8, and it would be a_ crime _for me not to get a 12._

Glacier had to admit that he liked this display of finesse. It was certainly something that not a lot of tributes showed, often more focused on brute force or aim with their weapons. Lace's skill might help her find food in the arena. Beyond that, however, he didn't see how that could end up benefitting her too much. In his head, Glacier came up with a score for Lace.

Only four districts were left now. Dax Baylor, the younger brother of Aurora, appeared stoic about his current situation, like he had already accepted the fact that he would die just like his sister, crushed between two walls.

Dax looked around the room, looking for a weapon to use. He wisely decided to pick something _other_ than throwing knives, which had been the same weapon that his sister had utilized to make it to fourth place in that deep, dark Labyrinth.

Dax picked up a scythe from the weapons rack. At four feet long, it was the longest weapon that they had available, and considering that Dax was 5'10", it looked fairly lopsided, but it fit him perfectly. He easily cut through the dummies that were available for him, and he felt, no, he _knew,_ that his performance warranted a high score. Maybe an 8 or 9, or quite possibly a ten. But only time would tell.

When Dax was dismissed, he walked out of there with his head held high, despite the fact that he was currently harboring very dark thoughts about Aurora's demise.

The female tribute from District 9, Paolina Guignard, walked into the room, shivering at the sight of the weapons rack. According to Glacier Jackalburg's bio on her, she was a pacifist. _Fat chance of her winning the Hunger Games,_ he thought.

Instead, Paolina went on over to the knot-tying station. Within a few minutes, she had made ten usable Prusik knots for mountain climbing. Where she had learned to do that in District 9, Glacier would never know. However, he strongly suspected that she _hadn't_ learned it in her home district, and instead picked it up during her precious training time in the Capitol. _Well, kudos to her,_ the Head Gamemaker thought.

Eventually, Paolina was told to leave, as her fifteen minutes had elapsed. During that time, however, she had made a little rope skirt, which Glacier had to admit was pretty impressive. Even so, he couldn't see how that would help her very much.

But the good news was; they were in the home stretch. Only six more tributes, three more districts, to cover.

* * *

The boy from District 10, Dalton Porter, walked in. He went over to the weapons rack, like so many of the other tributes. Unlike the others, though, he selected a spear to demonstrate his talent with. He faced the dummies and got ready.

Dalton leaned back and threw his spear. It sailed through the air and struck the dummy through its brain. Dalton was a little disappointed that it didn't go directly into its heart, but he was okay with the dummy's head. It wasn't like he had much of a reason to return home. He didn't have any family left, no friends, no one to relate to at all.

 _No. Don't think like that, Dalton. You have to win._

Dalton kept on throwing spears. He got one in the dummy's heart, but one hit the floor. Finally, the Gamemakers had had enough and dismissed Dalton.

Ryla walked in. The District 10 girl grabbed a slingshot and began shooting. She was not particularly skilled with it, but she did manage to hit five targets in nine throws. In other words, she was just average, much like she saw herself. But she was okay with that.

When the Gamemakers finally let her go after the usual 15 minutes, she was satisfied that she was managing to blend in with the others. At least, she thought that she was.

The fourth to last person was Vander Mordhix of District 11. According to his bio, he was very, very religious. Vander went over to the weapons rack, and, _sigh,_ grabbed...more...throwing...knives. He wasn't very good, either. He kept on flubbing his throws with the knives. He finally managed to land a couple on the target, but it was too little, too late in the eyes of the Gamemakers.

When he was finally dismissed, Vander had his head held low, and he was praying to Yahweh that he wasn't going to die in the Bloodbath, like it sure seemed that he would to the Gamemakers. Vander might have been a lot of things, but he wasn't that stupid. People had a perception of born-again Christians as being idiots, which Vander was not. He had the common sense to know that he had very little chance of winning the Hunger Games without a sponsor, and he had very little chance at getting a sponsor.

Next, it was time for Noelle. The small District 11 girl grabbed a weapon that would seem to be rather inappropriate for her size. She swung it around, trying to show her skills.

"Hey" Xander, the trainer, said. "I'll spar with you".

Noelle accepted the offer, and soon the two of them were fighting each other with clubs. Of course, neither of them were aiming to kill. Still, though, Noelle was mainly on the defensive. She definitely had potential, Glacier could tell, although how much potential he couldn't see yet. He needed to see more.

Noelle continued her valiant effort, but she was finally disarmed six minutes into the battle. She'd shown some serious skills with her club, but it might not be enough for her to win. If she got too high a score, it might make her a target. Although, looking at her bio, Glacier noticed that she was a known rebel. Maybe...

That thought was cut short by the entrance of Flyte, the final boy who would demonstrate his skills for the Gamemakers. Flyte immediately went for the exact same weapon as Noelle. He called over Ky to fight with him.

This time, Flyte was better than Noelle had been. He was definitely very skilled with the club, more so than Ky, perhaps. He managed to disarm the trainer, which was very impressive for someone from District 12. That definitely made Glacier impressed with the boy from the coal mining district, and Flyte _would_ get a good score. And Glacier could finally see the light at the end of the tunnel. There was only one tribute left.

Jessie Martin was the very last tribute to show her face in the training center. She went on over to the edible plants station and identified some of them for the Gamemakers. She was very non-memorable, but Glacier had to admit that he was a little spaced-out due to the fact that she was the last one.

And finally, it was over.

* * *

 **Before I go, I'd like to say that I was going to include the scores here, but I wanted to have something to upload today. It makes me feel like I'm getting somewhere, because there have been moments where I have seriously considered giving up the story. But, don't worry, that isn't likely to happen.**

 **Here are the current poll results for favorite character:**

 **1st: Glory, Karla, Memphis, and Twilight with 2 votes each**

 **5th: Brett, Gauge,** **Lace, Paolina, Ryla, Taysom, and Zelda with 1 vote each**

 **No one else in on the board yet. I hope that those of you who have not yet voted in the poll will do so.**

 **In any case, I hope you enjoyed this chapter. Thanks for reading, and please review.**

 **SnowLucario out.**


	9. Twenty-Four Numbers

**This is the penultimate pre-Games chapter! After this, one chapter to replace the interviews, and then that is it! And I'm honestly very, very glad about that. Here are the current poll results:**

 **1st: Karla and Zelda with 3 votes each**

 **3rd: Brett, Gauge, Glory, Memphis, and Twilight with 2 votes each**

 **8th: Dalton, Lace, Paolina, Preston, Ryla, Sparkle, Taysom, and Vander with 1 vote each**

 **The others have yet to receive one vote. Hopefully, they will receive some love at some point. But anyway, let's get to the scores!**

* * *

It was 8:00 primetime in the Capitol. While the tributes were eating their dinner, one of the last few that most of them would ever experience, Caesar Flickerman was sitting on his desk, in front of the cameras. He was going to announce the scores of the tributes in the 64th Hunger Games. These scores mattered a lot, because they gave the sponsors something to work with, to know who was worth paying good money to potentially save the life of. One to twelve was the possible range, and the Capitol were waiting to see who would be seen as the biggest threats among the non-Careers.

Right now, the citizens of the Capitol were either in their houses or apartments, or in the public places, watching the reveal of the scores live on television. And now, it was time for the tributes to learn how they had done in front of the Gamemakers.

 **District 1**

Garnet and Glory were eating dinner with their mentors when Caesar Flickerman's picture appeared on the screen. They both were very excited, as well as somewhat nervous, to see what would happen.

"Our first tribute, Garnet Golds of District 1...coming away with a score of 10!"

Garnet pumped his fist in the air. He couldn't reasonably have expected to score any higher, since elevens and twelves were rarely given unless the Gamemakers wanted to make someone a target. He could honestly say that he was very happy with his score. Even now, before he'd even _done_ anything in the Games, he'd surely be making his district proud of him.

"Next, we have Glory Asphodel, with a score of 9!"

Glory was glad she'd managed to get in the normal range of scores for Careers, which was typically between eight and ten. She remembered Elegance, who'd gotten her score upside down. As she looked over at Garnet's smug face, she was determined to beat him in the Games, but she knew that this was going to be a strong Career pack for sure.

 **District 2**

"Brett Mason...coming away with a score of 8. Getting progressively lower!" Caesar laughed at his own quip, sounding kind of like Stephen Colbert.

 _Ouch,_ Brett thought. He wasn't happy with his score, but it was only to be expected. After all, he'd only had a year of training before the Games, while some of these kids had probably been training for the Games since they were ten years old, or even younger. Even so, being the lowest scorer so far, even if it was an _eight,_ within the standard Career range, didn't feel good. This did not improve his chances of getting to marry Estonia.

"It's okay, Brett" Margaret said from the dining table, through a mouthful of couscous. "You did the best you could, I'm sure. We can work with that, but for now, let's see how Twilight did". _Probably better than you,_ Margaret thought but did not say.

"Twilight Shinier, with a score of 9".

Twilight had at least done better than her district partner. She had to admit that she was impressed with Garnet's ten. What had he done for the Gamemakers? She guessed that she might find out in the arena...

 **District 3**

"Gauge Cypher, with a score of 4".

" _Four?!_ Are you crazy? I should have at least gotten a six!" he shouted.

"It's fine, Gauge" his mentor, Beetee, said. "We can get you some sponsors, I'm sure. A lot hinges on your interview, though, so I'd suggest you prepare for that as much as possible".

"That's right" the other mentor, Wiress, said. "You'll definitely want to get everything you can out of your coaching period for your interview. But now is not the time to focus on that Let's see what Zelda got".

"Zelda Pixelford, coming away with a score of 7!"

Zelda could have laughed right about now. She'd done it. She'd scored high enough to be a part of the Career alliance. It was too bad that she wouldn't have too much time to talk to them before the actual Games began, just to make sure that they were good with her being there. But Zelda was proud of her score, higher than most people outside of the Career districts, who typically averaged a five or so.

 _I just might be able to do this,_ Zelda thought.

 **District 4**

"Memphis Alonso, coming away with a score of...10!"

"Yeah!" Memphis yelled, his eyes looking triumphant for once instead of sad and angry. He pumped his fist and puffed his chest like Nick Jonas. He had just tied with Garnet for the highest score in these Hunger Games. And he believed that he could win this thing, to avenge Zoe. He could.

He looked at his embarrassment of a district partner, Sparkle. If she also scored a ten, Memphis would be seriously pissed off.

"Sparkle Waters, scoring a 3".

Sparkle's face reddened at the sight of her score. She'd expected it to be low, given the fact that she had only shown off her skills with edible plants. She'd known it would be low, but surely not _this_ low? Would the Careers even allow her to stay in their pack now?

"You can still be in the Career alliance" Memphis said. "Just please, _please_ pull your own weight. Do you think you can?"

Sparkle could only give one answer. "I'll try" she said.

 **District 5**

"Preston Wagner of District 5, with a score of 9!"

"What the fuck?" Gleam cried out. "How on earth could you have gotten such a high score? You realize that that puts a bull's-eye on your back, right?"

"I do" Preston said. "But I'm still happy with my score, and I'm sure that the Gamemakers must have been impressed with my performance".

"You're not even slightly worried that you scored higher than Brett and Sparkle? How delusional are you?" Gleam asked, continuing to sound very exasperated.

Preston didn't seem worried about the target on his back. He was focused on the TV, to see what his district partner's score was.

"Gleam Shelder, coming away with a score of 8!"

"Great job, Gleam!" her mentor, a woman named Powerra, congratulated her. "You scored higher than Sparkle, and you tied with Brett. Congratulations!"

Gleam was happy with her score, but she wished that she had beaten Preston.

 **District 6**

"Next up is Duncan Lane of District 6, coming away with a score of 3".

Duncan's heart sank. Yes, tributes had scored this low and still won the Games, but those were rare, and in most such cases said tribute had been laying low on purpose so as not to be targeted in the Games. However, Duncan hadn't been laying off on his skills. He'd been trying, and had simply sucked. The bandage on his right arm was a testament to that for sure.

Hopefully, Jay hadn't beaten him by that much. Hopefully...

"Jay Jordan, scoring a 10!"

"Wow! Didn't expect that!" Jay said incredulously. "I wonder why I got such a high score". To Duncan, her body language seemed to imply that she knew _exactly_ why, and just wasn't going to tell him. Which Duncan could certainly understand, because in order to win these Hunger Games, he would need to cut ties with this girl, not that he'd had very many to begin with.

And he wanted to win, even if he had started on such a sour note.

 **District 7**

"Taysom Resinworth of District 7...with a score of 6".

Taysom sighed. He'd wanted a seven, because it would have been so appropriate considering the district they were from. But six was good enough for his purposes. It wasn't the highest score they had seen, but it wasn't the lowest, either, just a tiny bit above average. Maybe this would cause the Careers not to care too much about the Underdog Alliance. He could certainly hope...

"Next up is Karla Sawden, coming away with a score of 5".

Karla looked a little disappointed. At the same time, though, she understood that the Gamemakers must not have seen slicing up a watermelon as very impressive. She'd scored one point below her district partner, which very much annoyed her. She felt a little like Taysom's younger sister, for that was the relationship they had developed over the past few days.

"Well, at least we don't have big targets on our backs" Taysom said. "It could be worse. We could have Lyme disease bull's-eyes on our backs".

"I know" Karla said.

 **District 8**

It was finally Jasper's turn. How would he do?

"Jasper Glossy of District 8...scoring a 6!"

Jasper tried to remind himself that a six wasn't too bad. He'd tied with Taysom and beaten Karla. Even so, he wanted to be _noticed, remembered._ The thing was, everyone noticed the one kid who scored a twelve. Nobody remembered the twelve kids who scored a six.

 _Oh, well. At least the Careers won't think of me as their biggest threat. They'll have District 5 to worry about._

"Lace Werhts...also scoring a 6".

Lace had gotten a decent score for her performance, she thought. She'd definitely show them better than that in the arena. She'd have to, in order to win. She really, really, really wanted to win, of course. Who didn't, especially when the grand prize was being allowed to keep on living?

 **District 9**

Last year, Dax's sister had scored an eight in training. Would Dax follow in Aurora's footsteps or not?

"Dax Baylor...scoring an 8".

 _Some things never change._ Dax once again found himself unable to hold in the dread that he felt, that he might die an identically awful death to his sister's. He could only hope that this was the _only_ thing that would be the same about him as Aurora. He wanted to show that he was his own person, and to finish what his sister had started.

Over the past year, Dax had read some books about biological engineering. He'd wanted to finish what his sister had started in that regard, too. He might not become one himself, but he could persuade someone else to. And now, those hopes had been dashed.

"Paolina Guignard...coming away with a score of 4".

It wasn't the lowest score of the day, so Paolina shouldn't have been disappointed in how she had scored based on what she had shown the Gamemakers. Despite this, she did. She knew that sponsors wouldn't go for the pacifist who scored a _four_ in training. But she was glad that she had beaten out at least _one_ Career.

She could go to her grave and remain satisfied for that.

 **District 10**

"Dalton Porter of District 10...coming away with a score of 7!"

"I'll take it" he said. He might have scored lower than all but one of the Careers, but he was fine with that. All he wanted to do was survive the Bloodbath, and then find a workable strategy for winning the Hunger Games, of which there were most likely many that might have been plausible. And really, what did the training scores really mean? Yes, generally speaking, the higher your score, the more likely you were to win, but that wasn't a universal law.

"Ryla Bos, scoring a 5!"

 _Just average,_ she thought. And she was perfectly okay with that.

 **District 11**

"Vander Mordhix, coming away with a score of...3".

Vander was extremely disappointed. He'd tied for the lowest score of the year thus far, unless Noelle, Flyte, or Jessie had done even worse, which he doubted. Luckily, though, he still had his Bible, which he was taking as a token into the Games. He knelt over it and prayed for the Lord's guidance.

Meanwhile, Noelle was anxiously awaiting her score. She honestly had no idea what it was going to be.

"Noelle Withers, with a score of 12!"

 _"WHAT?!"_ she screamed aloud. It wasn't like she was complaining, but she wanted to know _why_ she had been a perfect score.

And then she realized why. It was because of her past. She was a known rebel in the eyes of the Capitol, which was not something they appreciated. Of _course_ they wanted to make her a target.

 **District 12**

"Flyte Warsaw...with a score of 9!"

The Gamemakers must have been paying attention to him, or how else would he have gotten such a high score for one from the poorest district in Panem? He was definitely a little apprehensive about acquiring a target on his back with the Careers, but he could deal with it. He always did back in District 12. Life on the streets wasn't easy. He figured that if he could deal with that, he had an idea of what life in the Hunger Games might be like.

"And finally, Jessie Martin...coming away with a score of 3".

Jessie was saddened by her score. As she looked at her district partner, who had scored _three times higher than her,_ all she could think was:

 _Tied for last._


	10. Turkish Delight

**All right, guys. First off, Lorax is about to hit 1,000 views. Yeah! Labyrinth is over 4,600, just so you guys know. Also, we're almost at 40 reviews and not even to the Games yet. You guys are great, and I'd love to hit 120 by the time this is over. To do that, maybe 5 reviews per chapter is what I'll need.**

 **I decided to have a tribute ball instead of the interviews. I give all credit to Hoprocker for the idea, and I thought that this was the best way to sort of finalize all of the alliances heading into the Games.**

 **Anyway, here are the current poll results for favorite character. I don't know how much longer I will have it up, but here they are:**

 **1st: Zelda with 6 (!) votes**

 **2nd: Gauge and Karla with 3 votes**

 **4th: Brett, Glory, Lace, Memphis, Ryla, Taysom, and Twilight with 2 votes each**

 **10th: Dalton, Duncan, Flyte, Jay, Jessie, Noelle, Paolina, Preston, Ryla, Sparkle, and Vander with 1 vote each**

 **20th: Dax, Garnet, Gleam, and Jasper with no votes**

 **With that, let's bring on the last pre-Games chapter of Lorax! And, before anyone says it, let me say it for you: "THIS SCENE REMINDS ME OF NARNIA!"**

* * *

This was a new twist. Something that had never been done before.

Normally, after the interviews had occurred, the tributes were sent back to their rooms for their last night in the Capitol, at least for twenty-three of them. They would only interact with their district partners until the next morning, when they would fly off to the arena, and then they'd most likely be simply trying to kill each other in order to become the victor. That was just the way it worked.

However, to celebrate Glacier Jackalburg's first year as the Head Gamemaker, and the sixty-fourth Hunger Games, they were going to have a tribute ball on the night before the Games began, in order to commemorate this momentous occasion. He'd made it to the Games.

Before the ball officially began, the tributes were to be required to perform a choreographed dance routine for the Capitol to see. This consisted of each tribute dancing with their district partner. They would have to hold hands in a do-si-do manner, and walk towards the edge of the stage. Then, the boy would crouch onto his stomach, and the girl would plunge an imaginary knife into his back. This was to symbolize that you couldn't trust anyone, not even your own district partner. Then, the boy would do the same to the girl. Finally, all twenty-four tributes would gather together in a circle, holding hands, and spin everyone around until they all got together in the middle and put their hands in the middle, like a Little League team pledging to win the upcoming game. This was to signify that, despite the Hunger Games, all of Panem was united under the Capitol.

Needless to say, these were two _very_ contradictory messages, but it wasn't the tributes' place to protest it. Most of them loathed the Capitol, and hated anything having to do with the Hunger Games, but there were definitely some counterexamples.

One of the most important counterexamples of the Capitol-hating tribute was Glory. As she danced with Garnet, she thought that maybe, just maybe, she could trust her district partner. He was a little cocky, but not nearly as much so as Horatio had been. She thought back to her interview. Without sharing her whole life story, she had described how much she revered the Capitol. Garnet, too, had spoken about how long he'd been training for the Hunger Games and how determined he was. Unfortunately, one or both of them would die in the Hunger Games.

Brett and Twilight were most definitely an awkward pairing. Twilight seemed to find the fact that this greasy-haired boy who looked like some sort of street con was being made to dance with her very, very rage-inducing. In hindsight, it might not have been the best idea to talk about her helping at her mother's clinic back in District 2. That could put a target on her back. Brett, meanwhile, was glad that he hadn't revealed the _true_ reason he had volunteered; so as to win over the father of Estonia Jenkins, the only person in the entire district he loved.

Gauge was pissed at Zelda for joining the Careers. After the dance, they would finalize who was and who was not in the Career pack. Zelda had gotten a seven, and, in her interview, she had talked about video games quite a lot. She had seemed _obsessed_ with it. Gauge hoped that he had done as good a job as her, but he somehow doubted it.

As for Memphis and Sparkle, he had held off in his interview from talking about Zoe, because he didn't figure that the Capitol needed more of that. He was just very annoyed that Sparkle was still in the Career pack, when she'd gotten a score of 3. What was the logic in that?

Gleam was suspicious of Preston. He'd gotten a nine, and who was to say that he wasn't secretly an ally of the Careers? In her interview, she'd tried to talk about mundane things, like her favorite food in the Capitol, while Preston had also held off on describing his skills. He'd let the Capitol see for themselves, apparently.

Duncan and Jay were both very young tributes, and it was another awkward pairing. These two District 6 tributes both looked unlikely to win, but that was just how it went. Hopefully, their interview performances had gotten them enough sponsorship possibilities in order to have a chance at winning the Games.

Taysom and Karla danced naturally together. Taysom wasted no time during his interview talking about his family and the reason he had volunteered to be in the Hunger Games, in order to save Paul. Karla talked about how Taysom was like a brother to her. Even though Karla had three older brothers at home, she still favored Taysom greatly over all of them. Although she could never have said that onstage, she had begun to feel as if she could be so fortunate as to win the Games with him, while the rational side of her knew that was impossible.

The choreography came naturally to Jasper, who hoped that his interview outfit had turned some heads. Lace, who was somewhat homophobic, despised the thought of dancing with someone who was not possibly attracted to her. Unfortunately, she had no way out of it.

Dax was resigned to his fate, and had been for a long time. The interview had mainly focused on Aurora, and how unlucky the Baylor family, as well as the Wheatlands, the impoverished region of District 9 in which Dax lived, had been. As for Paolina, she'd tried to avoid saying too much, either about her opposition to the Hunger Games or her family's rebel activities. She had been very relieved when the interview was over.

Dalton and Ryla were yet another awkward pairing. They clearly didn't want to dance together, and neither of them felt that they had made a very big impression on the Capitol in their interviews. Neither of them expected to do well in the Games, either.

Vander just wanted the song to stop. During the interview, he had talked a lot about his faith for the benefit of the cameras. It had been genuine, of course, but he didn't know if that had been a good idea or not. Noelle thought that she had come across as the "cute girl" that everyone wanted to root for, and she kind of liked it. It might actually make the Capitol root for her, she hoped.

Flyte was proud of his interview performance, as was Jessie. They'd felt like they had shored up their strengths and weaknesses as much as they could. They both wanted the song to be over, and thankfully for them, it almost was.

Finally, the song reached its last line. The tributes all got into a circle, spun around, and put their hands in the middle. After they lifted them up, the cameras were turned off and tributes were free to roam around the garden, for what would be the last evening of some of their lives.

There were buffet tables arranged around the courtyard, holding everything from steak to mashed potatoes to vegetables to brownies. There was, of course, the dance floor, and live music being played by the Capitol's favorite band, Newington The People. It was led by Nick Newington, a twenty-something Capitolite who looked like a surfer dude. He was clearly apathetic to the reality of the Hunger Games, and Paolina really wished that she could knock some sense into him.

And, in the center of it all, there was a life-sized statue of Coriolanus Snow. It wouldn't have sounded impressive, except for one thing.

The statue was made entirely out of Turkish Delight. It was all green and pink and red and yellow. Needless to say, it was not the normal coloration of Panem's president, but no one cared, least of all Duncan. When he saw the statue made out of candy, he instantly made a beeline for it, not caring how juvenile it looked. This was very possibly his last night alive, and he wanted to make the most of it. If there truly was nothing else after this life, he needn't worry about being embarrassed in the future. And, if he did survive, everyone else who would know would be dead, because he would have won the Hunger Games.

Duncan took a slab from it and put it in his mouth. It tasted very sweet and gooey on the inside, the rose flavoring heaven on his taste buds. He instantly went back for more.

In the meantime, the Underdog Alliance didn't really care about a random thirteen-year-old loner from District 6. Instead, they were focused on finalizing their plan for the following morning. The six tributes in the alliance backed into a distant corner of the garden, from which it was highly unlikely that anyone else would be able to hear them.

"So...this is everyone, right?" Taysom asked the group. They all nodded, and, giving a quick head count, Taysom, not always the sharpest tool in the shed, verified that every member of the alliance was indeed present.

"All right...so let's talk about the strategy for tomorrow morning at the Cornucopia. When the gong rings out, I want to run away, as quickly as possible. We'll come up with some safe space-"

"But we won't know the layout of the arena until we actually get there, and if we try to communicate during the countdown, we'll get _cut down_ by the Careers" Lace pointed out pompously. Taysom wished that she wasn't so brutally honest. Honestly, there was something about that girl that he just didn't like. Whether it was her attitude or just the way she carried herself, he wasn't a fan of Lace Werhts. Of course, though, they needed as many people in their alliance as they could get.

"We'll make eye contact during the countdown, and then we'll silently agree. Or, we'll all find each other during the actual Bloodbath, and then we'll all run away together" said Jasper. The gay boy from District 8 was clearly the voice of reason here. He was wearing the same outfit as in his interview, a flamboyant jungle green, indigo, and international orange shirt with black pants. It wasn't necessarily the package from which you would expect to hear such sage advice.

"That sounds like a good idea to me" Noelle said. "How about you, Vander?"

Noelle's much older district partner nodded, but he still had a hand on his Bible. He still seemed to be praying, and in his interview he had of course talked a lot about his Christian faith. Noelle wished that Vander would listen to what Taysom had to say. He could believe in his God, but he would have to pull his own weight, and not pray while he should be running away from the Careers.

But it turned out that he was completely lucid. "I think that we should go with Taysom's idea" he said. "That idea of nonverbal communication sounds good to me".

Karla and Noelle both approved that idea, because they knew that this was the best way to make sure that all of them met up together at a location perhaps half a mile or a mile away from the Cornucopia. That definitely seemed like a good plan to make sure that everyone was accounted for. Then, they would run away into the woods somewhere, or whatever arena they happened to be in. Of course, if it was another maze like last year's arena had been, it wasn't going to be possible. However, it seemed highly unlikely to Vander that the Gamemakers would do the same thing twice.

The Underdog Alliance then disbanded and walked around the buffet tables, continuing to sample the exotic food that the Capitol had prepared for them.

At the same time, Duncan was still at the Turkish delight statue of Snow. He had used a butter knife to cut out ten small cubes of it, which had all been very tasty indeed. But something about it made him crave even more after he had already eaten some. He popped another piece in his mouth, and he instantly wanted more. If he could have, he would have simply abandoned the knife and just gone all straight for it, tearing down the statue, but he didn't want to fall in the wine fountain, as that would be pretty embarrassing.

Little did Duncan, or any of the other tributes, know, there _was_ something weird about this Turkish delight. Specifically, it had been genetically engineered so that you would keep wanting more and more of it, and would continue to eat as much as you possibly could until you dropped and had a heart attack. This was indeed a diabolical trick by the Capitol. If the tributes had thought that the Games hadn't started yet, they were very, very, wrong, and Duncan was going to pay for that wrongness with an awful stomachache in the morning.

But right now, he didn't know, or care. All he knew was, the more he ate, the more he wanted- no, the more he _had_ to eat. It felt like a compulsion.

Far away from the gorging boy from District 6, the Careers were all meeting together to have a final discussion on their strategy.

"So...we're all going in, right?" Sparkle asked the others.

"The last time I checked, that was the plan" said Brett. "What do you guys think of that?"

"Sounds great!" Glory exclaimed.

"The more tributes, especially the big threats, we can get out at the Bloodbath, the better, I should think" Garnet replied. "Who got which scores again? I'd been a little distracted because of training for my interview". At those last few words, Garnet winked one of his blue eyes, looking very pleased with his idea.

"Well, let's see" Memphis said. "That wimpy guy from District 5. What was his name again, Piston or something like that?"

"Preston" Twilight said.

"Preston Wagner, now I remember. He got a nine, didn't he? We should target him, no?" Memphis asked. His words were already slurring slightly, because he had had three drinks of wine. Already, some of the tributes were getting slightly intoxicated from the beverage set out before them in the fountain. Wordlessly, the Careers all took a look at the President Snow statue made entirely out of Turkish delight. Duncan Lane was still sitting at its base, cutting and eating small wedges the size of a two-by-two cube of dice.

"He's going to have one hell of a stomachache in the morning" Zelda said. "He's being really foolish. I mean, there's no way that they'd just give us all that candy for free!"

"I don't know" Glory said. "I really could go for some of that!"

"No, please, _please_ don't go for it" Brett said. "I read a story once. There was an evil queen who tempted a little boy into betraying his siblings by eating a shit-ton of Turkish delight. I feel like this might be a reference to that".

"There is _no way_ that I could eat that much!" Sparkle blurted out of nowhere. Instantly, she wished she hadn't said that. _I REALLY hope they didn't just deduce my secret!_

Luckily for Sparkle, no one other than her own district partner, whom she had already told, seemed to pay much attention to that. They were too focused on another important question, that being whether or not Zelda was going to be a member of the Career pack or not.

"I think that she scored well enough" Twilight said. "A seven isn't great, but Brett got an eight. And Sparkle only got a _three_ and we're keeping her!"

Twilight said that last sentence in a tone that made it clear she didn't approve of the fact that Sparkle was still a member of the alliance.

"Who said we're keeping Sparkle?" Garnet asked. "Not with such a low score, we're not".

"Strength in numbers, Garnet" Memphis replied. "We're not leaving Sparkle alone. We can always kill her off later if she doesn't prove to be a useful member of the Career pack. And I think that she might just die in the Bloodbath, if she's really that bad".

Sparkle didn't feel happy about what her district partner had just said. However, she was glad that Memphis was at least advocating for her staying in the group, which definitely made her feel a little better. She decided that she would just try to enjoy the rest of the evening, and worry about the morning in, well, the morning.

Meanwhile, Karla worked up the courage to approach her much larger district partner. She wanted to make the most of what might very well be their last day alive, and not waste her time with Taysom. She cleared her throat and prepared to ask him the question.

"Hey, Taysom" she said to him.

Taysom just got out of the conversation he had been having with Jasper to face Karla. "What is it, Karla?"

As Karla watched Preston pour wine into a pyramid of glasses that he had constructed himself, she knew that she was going to have to say it soon. "Do you want to dance with me?"

Taysom's eyes lit up. "I thought you'd never ask".

Together, the two of them hit the dance floor. They seemed natural together, as if they were actually brother/sister. It did look a little weird, considering that Karla was approximately a foot shorter than her district partner, who was easily able to pick her up into his arms.

However, there was one tribute who was far less happy with her district partner. Jay was eating a piece of brisket while watching Duncan completely gorge himself on Turkish delight. By now, Snow's arms had both been amputated to about three inches beyond the elbow, and Duncan had also cut into his stomach. Jay wondered if this was his strategy for the Games, but she highly doubted it. After all, if Duncan was really trying to practice his knife skills, he probably would not also be _eating_ the candy as well. One thing was for sure; that boy would not be feeling well in the morning, and he would only have himself to blame for that.

Jay thought a bit about her own score. She had gotten a score of ten, and had no doubt that it was because the Gamemakers had wanted to make her a target. They knew that she was one of the infamous Jordan family. They didn't want her surviving the Hunger Games, because then it might send a message that crime was okay. The Capitol definitely did not like to condone illegal activities, although they did kill a lot of innocent people.

Ryla was trying to stay out of the spotlight. As she took a second slice of lemon meringue pie, she caught her district partner's eye. Dalton was chatting up Gleam, but she knew that they weren't going to form any alliances once they actually got into the arena. After all, Dalton himself had told her that he wasn't going to join any alliances, and Ryla, as much as she didn't really like her district partner, agreed with him on that. She didn't want her and another person to make it to the end together, only to have one of them be forced to kill the other one off.

Instead, Ryla decided to watch the statue of President Snow, which had now undergone a full-arm lobotomy. That was a disgusting amount of Turkish delight to put in one's gullet, and yet the boy was still going strong. There was no way that kid would survive the Bloodbath. Fuck it, she might even kill him _herself,_ just because he was so stupid and gullible.

If Ryla had yelled at the top of her lungs to tell Duncan to stop eating, the younger boy would not have listened. For Duncan Lane was in another world right now, a world in which the only thing that mattered was the Turkish delight in front of him. With every piece he crammed in his mouth, he needed _more_ of it. And yet he couldn't quite grasp that there had to be something fishy about this Turkish delight statue. And as he finished off on Snow's stump of an arm on his other side, he licked his lips in satisfaction before reaching up to his ear. He put the ear in his mouth whole and swallowed it, but that only made him hungrier.

At the same time, the Careers had gone back to discussing who the biggest threat was. Since Noelle had gotten a twelve, she was an obvious target, but Garnet reminded the rest of the Careers that when someone got a twelve, it was usually _meant_ to make them a target. Noelle was probably nothing spectacular, but, just in case, they would go after her. They couldn't risk it if she was, in fact, a very big threat.

Then, there was Jay Jordan from District 6, who had gotten a ten. It was unlikely it had been through pure skill alone, given that she was such a small girl, but you couldn't judge a book by its cover. That was what everyone always said, and what Glory had always firmly believed. The other Careers also seemed to agree with this, and that they would also target Jay.

The ball went on and on, but eventually, right before they were about to leave, Jay's district partner was the one who stole the show, better than anyone on the dance floor could have. Duncan, who by now had finished up a lot of President Snow's head, and eaten his kneecaps, was still eating Turkish delight. No thirteen-year-old should have been _possibly_ able to eat this much candy, but somehow Duncan found the room in his belly. And the more he ate, the more room was left in his stomach.

Eventually, a horn blew, which announced that the tribute ball was over, and that they were going to have to return to the training center now. Duncan stopped in his tracks. Then, he grimaced, as if he had only now realized just how much Turkish delight he had eaten. He keeled over into the wine fountain and vomited. Now, his shirt was covered in sick and wine, but he didn't seem to care.

Twilight took one look at the District 6 boy and thought, _I'm SO glad I didn't eat_ _that!_

* * *

 **I'm glad that I didn't accidentally type Edmund instead of Duncan! That would have been bad, but not nearly as bad as Duncan overdosing on Turkish delight. I thought that this was very funny to write, and I just want to clarify that I do not like the Narnia books. In fact, I positively _despise_ The Chronicles of Narnia, it's so boring! At least, in my opinion.**

 **Next chapter is the Bloodbath! I hope you're ready for it ;)**


	11. Bath Time!

**I just watched Pokemon: Lucario And The Mystery Of Mew. Ask me anything, but I will** **answer one question for you guys: My favorite line is when Meowth says, "Personally, I always prefer dining to dancing". That is just HILARIOUS. If you go to my YouTube channel, you can see my list of liked videos, and all 9 parts of the film are on there.**

 **All right, guys. It's time for the Bloodbath! I decided to give this chapter a cute title, because bath time was every little kid's nightmare. I'm reminded of the Calvin and Hobbes comic strip where Calvin pays Hobbes to take his baths for him. But enough about that. That's how sadistic I am! Isn't this an awesome chapter title?**

 **I just want to remind all you guys that this IS the Hunger Games, and your character will almost certainly die. If their death is not to your liking, please don't come up here with pitchforks. Instead, eat some frozen grapes or something. Or even Turkish delight, but I've heard it's not nearly as good as Edmund thought it was.**

 **All right. It's time to get into the actual Games!**

* * *

Duncan woke up in the middle of the night, wondering what had caused him to abruptly come back to consciousness. Normally, he slept right through to the morning. But then, the memory of the previous night came back to him, and his stomach began churning, and sick was rising in his throat. He ran straight to the bathroom, clutching his stomach the entire time.

He threw up, and it was multicolored, just like the Turkish delight statue of President Snow that he had so horribly mutilated just a few hours ago. All he could think about was, _I sure as hell am not going to win now. I can barely walk._

 _How could he have been so stupid?_ Normally, he would not have eaten nearly that much candy. What on earth had come over him at that ball? He decided that it didn't matter. After all, he couldn't change the past. He had to embrace the future and try to survive the deadly obstacles that he would soon be facing.

Once Duncan was convinced that he had emptied his stomach, after what must have been thirty minutes of retching, he crawled back to bed. He tried to still his pounding heart, but he couldn't bring down his fear of what was to come.

Duncan didn't get any more sleep that night.

* * *

Vander was woken up what felt extremely early. Being from District 11, it was normal to wake up early, because you had to get to your job at the orchard on time, or else the Peacekeepers were likely to whip you.

He'd always known that tributes got up early for the Games. But surely not _this_ early? Vander could see outside the window of his luxurious Capitol bedroom that it was still pitch black out. Wherever the arena was, it must be very far away, he thought, or else this wouldn't be necessary.

For Vander knew why he had woken up. His mentor was knocking on his door, saying, "Vander Mordhix, it's time to wake up! It's a long way to the arena, and we're getting an early start today!"

And then Vander had no choice but to get up, knowing that he'd only gotten perhaps a few hours of sleep on the night that he needed it most. His only consolation was that everyone else was most likely going to be dealing with this. Vander's alliance was counting on him, he knew that much. He headed into the dining room, where Noelle was already up, talking with her mentor about the best Cornucopia strategy.

"Hey, you're up, Vander" the female District 11 mentor said. "That's good. You've got fifteen minutes to eat breakfast, go to the bathroom, do whatever you need to do before you get on that hovercraft. The arena's a long way down south".

Vander knew that he needed to eat as much as he could. He shoveled two bagels, two sliced apples, and drank three tall glasses of cranberry juice. Hopefully, that would be enough, because that was all he really had time for. The entire time, he kept one hand on his most prized possession- his Bible. As he ate breakfast, he prayed his daily devotional, calling on God to protect him and his alliance. They would need it.

Too soon, it was time to leave.

* * *

The twenty-four tributes lined up to board the hovercraft. Since it was still extremely early, lights lit up the landing zone, casting ghostly patches on each tribute's face. Glory thought that was appropriate, considering that twenty-three of them were going to be ghosts soon enough.

Each tribute walked up the ladder onto the hovercraft, where attendants were waiting. Each tribute was injected with a tracker that would pinpoint their exact location in the arena. This was a very painful procedure, even though it was quick. Glory wondered if her predecessor, Elegance, had fainted again after that happened, although she doubted it.

Each tribute was secured in their seat by the attendants. For most tributes, this was a very fearful moment. However, this made Glory relax even more than she already was. _I trust these people,_ she thought. _After the kindness they showed me at the age of ten, why should things be any different at eighteen?_ It was an extraordinarily naive view of things, but Glory didn't realize it.

"Hey, Dax?" Garnet taunted. "Ready to follow in your sister's footsteps? Got a _crush_ on your district partner?" The Career cackled maniacally at his intentionally offensive joke.

Dax glared at the District 1 boy from across the aisle. " _No,_ Garnet. I actually _hate_ Paolina".

"That's just a cover" Brett laughed, sitting two seats to the left of Garnet. "Dax and Paolina, sitting in a tree. K-I-S-S-I-N-G".

"Knock it off!" Paolina shouted. The other tributes all stared at her, and Paolina clapped a hand over her mouth, her face turning red from embarrassment. Just then, the last person to board, Dalton, was harnessed into his seat. And then, the hovercraft rose into the sky. The tributes took one last look at the nighttime skyline of the Capitol before they had gone too far south for it to be visible.

The hovercraft travelled at a speed of over seven hundred miles per hour. Even so, it took over six hours to reach the arena. At first, the Careers had been chatting with each other casually about who they were going to kill first. The other tributes tried not to notice, or care.

After about an hour or so, almost all of the tributes had fallen asleep. The only person left awake, besides the pilot, copilot, and attendants, was Zelda Pixelford. She was still scanning the aisles, seeing if anyone looked too comfortable. Since she was a member of the Career pack, which was almost always the plurality alliance, she had little to worry about. Even so, she couldn't relax and settle in for a long nap. She was just too anxious.

At one point, Karla leaned over on Taysom, snuggling with her sleeping district partner. Had either of them been conscious of this, they would most likely have tried their best not to do that. The sound of this woke up Ryla, who was sitting right next to the pair from District 7. She found this hilarious. Of course, though, she didn't say anything. She just gave a quick laugh and then went back to sleep.

For the most part, though, the ride was uneventful. Most of the tributes needed their rest, because they had not gotten as much slumber as they would have liked the previous night, due to being woken up so early. Even though this was the Hunger Games, everyone seemed to respect that.

Suddenly, the pilot announced, "We're landing in ten minutes!"

Most of the tributes woke up at that jarring announcement, as the hovercraft began its descent into wherever they were going. And then, after what felt like an eternity, they touched down. The tributes groggily left their seats and were led down their respective corridors.

Each tribute had a separate launch room that would never be used again. There, their stylists would hand them their outfits and make sure that everything was okay. The tributes would be given one last chance to eat, shower, and/or use the bathroom. Then, they would step onto their plates, which would lift them up into the arena. Everything was connected in such a way that the tributes would not encounter each other. As much as some of the tributes hated the Capitol, they couldn't help but admire this impressive feat of engineering.

Jasper was led down a hallway along with Duncan and Dax, but he was soon led off into a separate corridor that led him to his individual launch room. There, his stylist told him to begin getting ready.

"We've got fifteen minutes to launch time, Jasper. Is there anything you need?"

Jasper accepted a muffin, because he hadn't had as much time to eat breakfast as he would have liked. Hopefully, it wouldn't limit his ability to run away from the Bloodbath and find the rest of his alliance. He didn't know how well Taysom's plan would work, but he knew that there was most likely no better way to increase his odds at winning. At seeing Cotton again. At getting to continue his life.

Jasper was provided with a jumpsuit and told that that was all he would need. Since there would be cold nights in the arena, the suit was designed to reflect body heat back at the wearer. _What a generous_ _Capitol,_ Jasper thought. _They won't let me marry Cotton, but they'll let me wear this nice one-piece that's only one color? Nice hypocrisy there!_

Once Jasper was ready, he stepped onto his plate. The plate rose up through a tunnel, and then Jasper, as well as the other 23 tributes, got a view of the arena. It was such a shocking sight that he couldn't help but gasp.

The 24 tribute plates were spaced out in the middle of a small lake, with the Cornucopia perhaps a thirty-yard swim away. The lake was fairly swampy, and there was no way of telling how deep it was. Because of this, a rope was tied from each tribute's plate to the central platform, which held the Cornucopia. Another rope was tied from the tribute plates to the lake shore, about fifty yards back. The lake was 160 yards in diameter, not that crazy of a distance. Well, it was a little more than that due to the Cornucopia's island in the middle.

That wasn't what caught the tributes' attention, though.

To the northwest was an industrial city several miles wide. It was very disgusting- in fact, from here, the smog was visible, and it looked like District 8 sometimes did in the winter, in Jasper's opinion. The skyscrapers reached up to thirty stories in height, but these tributes weren't here to attend Wayside School. This could get just as crazy, though. And yet, even that was not what drew the tributes' attention.

Most of the rest of the arena was covered in forest. This was not your typical forest, though. These trees ranged in height from three feet to three hundred feet, but their boughs were not the normal colors. Instead, there were red, yellow, orange, pink, and purple tufts at the top of the black-and-yellow trunks. It looked just like a Dr. Seuss book.

The landscape was certainly very unique. If only this wasn't the Hunger Games, as the countdown made the tributes all too aware of.

 _ **25**_

Jasper was glad to have the protection of an alliance. He felt that he would need it in the days to come. Looking at the Cornucopia, he figured he could get in there and take one for the team, grabbing a backpack of supplies for his alliance. The fact remained that he wasn't the best swimmer (in fact, he had never learned how to swim _at all_ ), but he could pull himself on the rope. And then he'd rendezvous with his alliance somewhere in the woods. He tried to make eye contact with Karla, one plate to his right, to try to communicate a plan nonverbally.

 ** _24_**

Dax saw the scythe he wanted. It was right in the middle of the Cornucopia, and it would be risky to get to it. Unfortunately, Dax was in the middle as well. On his left was Lace, a member of the Underdog Alliance, and on his right was Glory from District 1. He was surrounded by people who had it in for him. Still, that scythe was pretty tempting. He decided to risk it. After all, if he died in the Bloodbath, he'd at least avoid such a horrible death as his sister, but that's not to say he wasn't going to at least _try_ to win. He decided to run for the woods after getting his desired weapon.

 _ **23**_

Zelda was feeling pretty confident. She was next to her district partner, who didn't pose that much of a threat to her, at least from her own perspective. On her other side was Duncan. _A thirteen-year-old boy with a Turkish delight hangover isn't going to be a problem for me,_ she thought. _I can handle this._ Unfortunately, scanning the other tributes' plates, she noticed that none of the other Careers were close to her, except for Sparkle, whom she hardly considered a Career.

 ** _22_**

Gauge saw Zelda next to him. Now that she was in the Career pack, it definitely made him more wary of his district partner. On his left was Sparkle, who was also a Career, albeit one who did not volunteer for these Games. Not that he blamed Sparkle for not wanting to volunteer. For sure, this arena would hold some dark secrets. Gauge could not see any bows near him, but he knew that his chances of finding one would increase if he actually went into the middle. It was a big risk, though...

 _ **21**_

Glory wanted that spatha more than anything. She saw Dax to her left, and Jasper to her right. She felt like she was prepared for anything and everything that could come her way, and, as she looked over at the Cornucopia, she could see that there was a very wide variety of weapons and supplies on the island. She thanked the Capitol for providing them with that, just like they had given her so much during her short life.

 _ **20**_

Brett was doing this just for Estonia, as well as himself. He was right next to Twilight, on his left, and he knew that his district partner would have his back, at least for now. He felt a high level of nervousness, but he tried to keep himself calm. If he was going to win these Games, he needed to keep a calm head. And Memphis, who was a pretty good swimmer due to being from District 4, was only a few plates away. Brett could make this all work out. He could.

 _ **19**_

Duncan was still feeling very sick to his stomach, but he forced himself to hold it in. The smallest bit of pressure would set off those land mines planted at his feet. If he lost his ridiculously large dessert here, he would suffer an early and very gruesome death. He hadn't been planning on running in from the very beginning, but now it was _completely_ out of the question. He could only hope that Zelda wouldn't kill him on his way out.

 _ **18**_

Jay was amazed at her district partner's stupidity. Duncan was only four plates to her left, and Jay could notice him looking rather green around the gills. She felt no sympathy for him, though. He'd brought it entirely upon himself. Peering into the Cornucopia, she spotted a morning star fairly close to her plate. That was what she was going to go for.

 ** _17_**

Karla was feeling very nervous, even though she felt that she had little reason to be. On her left was Jasper, a fellow alliance member. Karla saw Jasper making eye contact with her and gesturing towards a spot in the woods. He was clearly trying to tell her something, probably where he wanted their alliance to go. She could on;y hope that Glory and Garnet, on opposite sides of Karla two plates away, didn't notice. She didn't see Paolina, standing immediately to her right, as a threat at all.

 _ **16**_

Dalton was feeling pretty confident. He saw spears near the horn of the Cornucopia, and he was going to go for them. His only concern was Brett to his left. He'd need to be careful about that. He poised his body, five feet and eleven inches, to dive into the pool, of which there was one at what had been his mansion. He knew how to swim very well, not having had too much else to do for the last few years. He felt like he had a good shot at this.

 ** _15_**

Taysom was between two Careers. Looking at Garnet, Taysom was even bigger and probably stronger. He wanted to get a vest of knives, which he found near the horn of the Cornucopia. Making eye contact with the Career, the tension was definitely very thick. There would definitely come a showdown between them at some point, perhaps sooner rather than later. He saw that his district partner three plates to his left, but Garnet and Paolina were in his way. Hopefully, they would all end up running in the same direction. _Was there a way?_ Yes, Taysom was looking at Jasper now, and he motioned for them to head to a spot in the woods in a north-northwestern direction. _Okay,_ he thought, _we're good to go!_

 ** _14_**

Paolina was surrounded by enemies. Everyone within three plates of her was either a Career tribute or a member of the Underdog Alliance. As for Paolina herself, she was going to run away immediately, for the woods. It reminded her of the Wheatlands to a certain degree, in that it was rural. On second thought, maybe the city was more familiar to her, since the urban part of District 9 was like that. One thing was for certain: she had to get the fuck out of there. She didn't want to kill or die.

 _ **13**_

Jessie was resigned to her fate. She didn't know how to swim, and so she didn't think she would be fast enough at swimming to escape the Bloodbath. Maybe she could find a shield or something somewhere in there. That was the only ray of hope she could see. She was right next to Flyte, though...hopefully he'd have mercy on her, but she highly doubted it.

 _ **12**_

Lace had an ally on her left. Noelle was supposedly a member of the Underdog Alliance. She made eye contact with the District 11 girl, who gestured towards the woods straight north of them. She wished that she could have been able to confirm it with the rest of their alliance, but she and Noelle at least had each other right now. Hopefully, they'd find a way to link up with the pair from District 7, as well as Jasper and Vander.

 _ **11**_

Flyte saw a club in that Cornucopia, and he sure as hell wanted one. His only concern was that his high score might have branded him as a threat among the Careers, as well as the other Careers. He would definitely have to be careful. On the other hand, he hadn't gotten his nine in training for nothing. On the streets, he'd always defended the younger kids, but there was a key difference between those two situations. In District 12, any number of people could have survived. On the other hand, here, Flyte would have to be the _only_ survivor. That was why he had said no to the Underdog Alliance.

 _ **10**_

Twilight was like a huntress, looking around to see who the most obvious prey would be. Not her district partner, she'd need to stay aligned with him until the time came for the Careers to disband and turn on each other. Then she saw Jay to her left. She wanted to show Panem that crime families, particularly the Jordans of District 6, were unacceptable. Looking at the ninja stars, she hoped that Margaret would approve of her choice.

 ** _9_**

Garnet had to get that spear. He was next to Taysom, and the District 7 boy made him more nervous than he liked to admit. Still, though, he'd find his alliance and win the battle against the Underdog Alliance for control over the Cornucopia, which they desperately wanted. Maybe there would be supplies in the city, but they couldn't count on that, As for Paolina, she would be an easy target, but Garnet wasn't going to go out of his way to pursue her. Not when there was a spear with his name on it just thirty yards away from him.

 _ **8**_

Noelle wanted to join hands with Lace, but she didn't think that would be a good idea. She was also close to Vander, so she tried to make eye contact with her district partner. But the older boy seemed to be saying a prayer of some sort, asking God to allow him to survive the Bloodbath. _Pay attention, Vander!_ she wanted to scream. _Your god's not going to save you now!_

 ** _7_**

Ryla decided to go all out. If she was going to die, she wanted to go out fighting, in a blaze of glory. She might not survive the Bloodbath, but she was sick of just being that average girl from District 10, and she wanted all of Panem to know that. She wanted to get that slingshot.

 ** _6_**

 _Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner. Lord Jesus Christ, son of God, have favor on me, a son._ As he stood there, his legs shaking, Vander repeated the prayer. One thing was for certain; he would need the Lord's help in the Bloodbath if he was going to survive. He saw Memphis on his left and Preston on his right, both of whom had gotten very high scores in training. Vander was most definitely apprehensive, but he sincerely hoped that with his alliance, everything would be all right in the end.

 ** _5_**

Memphis wanted to get to that katana. Normally, it would have been on the outskirts of the Cornucopia, but since Margaret Malachi had used it in her victory the previous year, it was right in the middle. Memphis was ready for this, though. _It's time, Zoe,_ he thought. _It's time for me to avenge you._

 _ **4**_

Sparkle's nervousness might have been spiking her blood sugar a little. However, that might have been just as well, because she didn't know when she would be eating again, or even _if_ she would eat again. Garnet was only two plates to her left, but Taysom was between her and the District 1 boy. Things had gone from bad to worse, she thought. _I just might be out of luck._

 ** _3_**

Preston wasn't going to take his chances. He was most likely seen as a threat, and the Careers would not hesitate to kill them. If he gave them an inch, they would take a _mile._ Because of that, he was going to run away, for the city. He would have liked to hang out in the forest, but the fact remained that, coming from District 5, he just wasn't very familiar with the environment. _I'm doing this for you, Ethan,_ Preston thought. That was all that stopped him from going into a tirade against the Capitol for the whole Hunger Games system (trademark), ripping children from their families since 2101. He could imagine that advertising slogan actually being a thing. Maybe, if he won, he could advertise products and become known for that. But before that could happen, he would have to _win_ first.

 _ **2**_

Gleam wanted that axe, and she was going to go to any lengths she had to in order to get it, including fighting against the Careers. She might back off if she absolutely had to, but not until then. She'd only have to be careful of Memphis on the plate immediately to her right.

 _ **1**_

All twenty-four tributes got ready to leap into the water, in whatever direction they were intending to go. Many were pointed towards the Cornucopia, but some were going to run away to safety- if there was anything in the Hunger Games that could be called _safety._

 _ **HHHHHHHRRRRRRRRRRNNNNNNNNNNN**_

The gong rang out, putting an end to the tributes' meditations. Each and every one of them leapt off of their plates into the swampy lake. A few of them, like Memphis and Dalton, were graceful in doing so. Most of them, however, made it very plain that they didn't know how to swim very well. They all floundered a bit before they got a handle on the rope that was their lifeline.

Memphis was the first tribute to reach the island in the middle, where the Cornucopia was. He looked around for his katana, which wasn't hard. He quickly grabbed it, but he didn't leave the Cornucopia. There were still a lot of tributes coming in, including the other Careers. He wanted to help them fight off some of the other tributes, especially the Underdog Alliance, or whoever else was going to try to get any weapons or backpacks, or both.

The next tributes to reach the Cornucopia were Dalton and Gauge. Gauge clearly had some speed, and he was going to try to grab a bow and arrow. Dalton managed to find the spear he was looking for, and then he immediately dove back in. No point in staying there any longer than he had to. He joined Duncan, Paolina, and Preston in fleeing from the scene.

Memphis was ready for Gauge, though. As the other Careers, and some of the Underdog Alliance, began to converge around the Cornucopia, Memphis went out swinging with his newly acquired katana. He got Gauge straight in the chest. The District 3 boy slumped over, being the first tribute to die in the 64th Hunger Games. The District 4 boy began looking around for other targets.

Here came Garnet and Glory. They were there to provide backup against the incoming Underdog Alliance. Karla, Lace, and Noelle were fleeing from the scene, but Taysom had decided to go in and fight. So was Vander, who was looking for a backpack to place his Bible in, as well as to find some supplies, which he was sure he wanted with him in this environment.

Garnet went straight for the spears as Taysom donned a vest of knives. Taysom attempted to hit Glory with one, but she was expecting it. Brett, on the other hand, wasn't so lucky. The District 2 boy had just arrived at the island, and he took a knife to the left bicep.

Brett stumbled, but managed to keep his balance. Twilight, who had reached the Cornucopia long ago, looked fearfully at her district partner's wound, but she decided that they could clean it up later. That was what she was trained to do, after all.

Instead, she focused on more important matters. Namely, dispatching as many other tributes as possible. Taysom was obviously a threat, considering the large alliance he had formed, but he was getting away. Instead, Twilight grabbed her throwing stars, one in each hand. She threw them both in different directions.

One of them struck Vander in the back. The boy from District 11 keeled over and fell into the lake, where he quickly sank to the bottom. He wasn't going to survive that.

The other star narrowly missed Jasper, who until now had been looking for what would be the most helpful to his alliance. After he saw the ninja star whizzing past him, he decided that he needed to go. He jumped in the water and pulled himself away as quickly as he could, not caring about Taysom. Could he meet up with the girls in the forest somewhere, or the city? He didn't know, but better to try that than to stay here and risk getting himself killed.

Jessie was crouched down, meticulously searching the Cornucopia for a shield. She wanted the defense, but she was clearly overvaluing it. Nothing was more valuable than her life. Immediately, she sensed a presence behind her.

It was Zelda. The affiliate of the Career pack had grabbed a bow and arrow, and was now leveling it at Jessie. The District 12 girl tried to get out of the way, but she was just a second too slow. The arrow buried itself in Jessie's brain, and she collapsed to the ground. Sparkle, who had finally gotten to the Cornucopia after mustering up the courage to do so for several minutes, kicked the body out of the way, where it would no doubt get eaten by some fish muttation or something.

She decided not to think about that, though. There were more important matters to attend to.

Flyte wasn't fast, but he had reached the Cornucopia. Now, he had found his club, and he was determined to score a kill. He wasn't leaving this place without downing at least one tribute.

The District 12 boy noticed that Memphis's back was completely open. _Always better to notice than to be noticed, he thought._

Flyte swung the club, narrowly missing Memphis's head. The Career turned around angrily. Flyte was about to back away, but he was better than this. He had to be.

Somewhere in the middle of all of this, Dax, who had spent the first five minutes of the Bloodbath biding his time at his plate, had seized the opportunity to swim in and grab his scythe. Then, he got away as quickly as possible, before any of the Careers would get to him. On his way back, he passed Ryla, who was heading in. Dax considered killing her, but decided against it. His number one priority was escape.

Back at the Cornucopia, Gleam had gotten her axe, and was about to leave the island when she saw a golden opportunity. As she readied her axe, she chucked it at Memphis. The axe buried itself halfway between his heart and his left breast. Memphis gave no indication that he cared about his impending death as he let go of Flyte (whom he had been holding hostage on the ground, about to run him through with the katana.

Instead, Memphis released his hold on the other boy and fell backwards into the water. He was dead. The short Japanese sword that had served the previous victor so well fell harmlessly to the ground.

Flyte was about to give Gleam a hug for saving him, but she said, "You can thank me later. Now, let's get going. The Careers aren't going anywhere!"

Flyte nodded, and the two of them grabbed adjacent ropes and began the fifty-yard swim back to the shore. Along the way, Flyte decided to swing his club at Jay. The District 6 girl had not expected it, and was knocked, breathless, into the swampy water. There was no way that she was going to be able to stay afloat.

Brett was staying back, trying not to get too involved, as was Sparkle. Glory, though, had finally found her spatha. Hopefully, she would be able to find some other tribute to kill. Most of the crowd had dispersed by now, but she made a quick lap around the Cornucopia island just to make sure.

Ryla was still on the other side, and Glory wasted no time in cutting down the District 10 girl. She met her end right there, and Glory had just achieved her first kill in the arena. She didn't have time to celebrate, though. She was too determined in getting back to the other Careers.

Just then, the cannons fired, signifying that the Bloodbath was officially over, having lasted approximately fifteen minutes. Now, the Careers counted the number of blasts. Each one represented a dead tribute, so the more the better, in the eyes of the Careers.

Finally, it was over.

" _Six?!"_ Garnet yelled. "We only got _six?!_ Where's Memphis?"

"Dead. The girl from District 5 killed him" Glory said.

Garnet let out a humorless laugh. "Memphis, getting himself killed in the Bloodbath? That's the best joke I've ever heard, except that it isn't one! That's such an embarrassment to District 4. What the hell kind of Career is he?"

"Don't laugh, Garnet" Twilight chided him. She didn't think it was funny that they had just lost one of their own. "Is everyone else accounted for?"

The other six Careers were all present and alive. They were ready to see what they were going to do next.

"So", Zelda said after a while, "what are we going to do now?"

"Well, first I've got to treat Brett. He took a knife from Taysom. After that, let's go out hunting".

"No time" Glory said. "Let's each take a backpack from here, and try to keep them as dry as possible". She looked around, realizing just how hard that was going to be.

"I agree with Glory" Brett said. "I'm fine, really. There's probably a first-aid kit somewhere in one of those bags. If not, we can always find a hospital of some sort in the city. I'm sure they'll have something there".

"If you're sure" Zelda said.

"I _am_ sure, girl. We've got to go out hunting. They can't have gone too far".

* * *

 **I was legitimately laughing when I typed in the sound the gong made. It reminded me of an AskReddit thread about what the spelling of the sound made when you unsheathe a lightsaber is.**

 **Last time, I had the obituaries of the tributes when they died. This time, it'll only be once they are shown in the sky. I don't want you people to just scroll down and get spoiled. I also don't want to ruin any tense moments at the ends of chapters. So the tributes who died in the Bloodbath, as well as any who die later on the first day, will be shown at the end of day 1.**

 **Also, the funny thing is that this chapter only had one more word than the Bloodbath chapter in Labyrinth until I added this sentence. So there's that, too. But does it really matter? I don't think so, and I don't think you do either.**

 **Sincerely, SnowLucario**


	12. Divergence

**Here are the results of the favorite character poll, which I have now taken down.**

 **1st: Zelda with 7 votes**

 **2nd: Gauge and Memphis with 4 votes**

 **4th: Brett, Karla, Taysom, and Twilight with 3 votes**

 **8th: Dalton, Glory, Lace, Noelle, Paolina, Ryla, and Vander with 2 votes**

 **15th: Dax, Duncan, Flyte, Jasper, Jay, Preston, and Sparkle with 1 vote**

 **22nd: Garnet, Gleam, and Jessie with 0 votes**

 **Now that the Bloodbath is over, things might be about to get more interesting. Let's see.**

* * *

Noelle would have liked to run faster than they had been doing from the Cornucopia. However, Lace did not have quite as much stamina, and so the younger girl was forced to slow down to allow the District 8 girl to keep up. They were looking for a clearing in which Karla and the boys would be able to find them.

As for Karla, she was waiting for them near the edge of the multicolored woods. The youngest girl in the arena was ready and waiting for the other two girls, as well as Taysom. How would they get to a place where they would be able to meet up with the boys.

"Let's run into the woods and find a clearing!" Lace said. She didn't say this too loudly, because they could still see the Cornucopia from here. At this vantage point, it was impossible to tell who was alive and who was dead. Was Taysom one of them? And where the hell were Jasper and Vander?

"We can't wait for them" Lace reiterated. "We've got to flee, and hope that Taysom can meet up with us".

"No, let's stay here" Karla said. "We need to wait for the boys to find us".

Just then, six cannons rang out. "That's our cue!" Noelle said. "The Bloodbath's over, and the Careers are going to be going hunting. We've got to run".

Karla looked as though she was about to protest, but she really did have no case against Lace and Noelle. She allowed the girls to lead her into the woods, hoping that they would find a place where they could meet up with the other members of their alliance.

They went over hills, passing tufts of trees, until they had gone a distance of about half a mile. Then, Karla had an idea. They had reached a circular clearing in the sparse forest, which would be the ideal place to wait for everyone else. "Let's climb the trees" Karla suggested.

Karla was of course very skilled at tree climbing, being from District 7. Noelle, being a natural troublemaker, was pretty decent at it as well. Lace, on the other hand, had a hard time getting any kind of height above the forest floor. Karla had to help pull her up.

"Do you know what this reminds me of?" Lace asked the other two girls. They were looking at the rest of the forest, which went on for miles from what they could see. Every tree was red or purple, or pink, orange, or yellow for that matter.

"What is it?" Karla asked the older girl.

"This is just like that Dr. Seuss book, _The Lorax_! There's the city over there, and I'm half-expecting some Thneed factories within it somewhere!"

 _Oh._

Karla felt stupid. After all, _The Lorax_ was a very popular bedtime story back in District 7. Her papa always used to read it to her when she was younger, especially when she was sick. That was particularly vivid, because when Karla had a fever, it caused her dreams to become more vivid. She'd end up dreaming that she was inside that smoggy city, working in one of those Thneed factories.

Because of this, Karla should have known what this arena was based on the instant her plate arrived above ground. But she decided not to worry too much about that right now.

"Hey...shhh...someone's coming" Lace said. She was looking down at the ground, a good thirty feet below her. Karla was in a tree forty feet high, while Noelle's Truffula tuft was nearly fifty feet above the forest floor.

Karla looked down, in order to see who it was. The large boy was looking very intimidating, and he had a vest of knives. This would have worried her very, very much, except that she knew who he was.

"Don't worry, guys. It's only Taysom!" Karla laughed aloud with relief. Not only were there no Careers in the vicinity, but their ally had found them. Things were really looking up.

Except that Taysom had a very serious and somber expression on his face. He appeared to be grieving someone. Were Jasper and Vander dead?

The girls all slid down their trunks in front of a very surprised Taysom. The boy was very pleasantly surprised to find all of the girls here in one piece.

"I can't believe it actually worked!" Taysom laughed. His eyes, on the other hand, betrayed no hint of laughter, and Noelle was wondering what was going on. Had the other two boys died in the Bloodbath?

"Where are Jasper and Vander?" Lace asked cautiously. "Aren't they part of our alliance too?"

"Vander's dead" Taysom said matter-of-factly. "I saw it happen. Twilight killed him".

"Twilight...that's the girl from 2, right?" Karla said.

"Yeah, that's the one. I'm really pissed at her right now" Taysom said, shaking his fist. "But I'm also pretty mad at Jasper. He's not dead. He ran off from the Bloodbath at the first sign of trouble. I don't know where he is, but trust me, if I see him, I'm going to kill him".

"That doesn't sound productive" Noelle said. "He _is_ still our ally".

"He's shown that he has little or no loyalty to our cause, and he only serves himself" Taysom said curtly. "That's enough for me to stop calling him an ally".

"So...what are we going to do now?" Lace asked.

Taysom only had a vest of knives, because Jasper had been the one who was supposed to grab the supplies for the alliance besides their weapons.

"Let's go into the city" he said. "We'll need to find something to eat sooner or later".

"Wait", Karla said. "Have you figured out the theme of the arena yet? It's _The Lorax_ ".

"I've gathered it by now" Taysom said. "Look, we've got to go. Maybe there'll be some fruits on the trees".

* * *

Jasper hadn't managed to come away with anything from the Cornucopia. Nothing at all. He decided to scrap his plans to meet up with Karla and the others, and head into the city instead. He continued running until he couldn't possibly run anymore. He reached the edge of the city, looking for a good place to hole up in. What building would work?

Jasper continued walking down the lane. He couldn't run any more because the air in this city was hard to breathe. It wasn't unlike District 8, but at least there the Capitol had at least tried to make sure that no one died from the bad air. At least, not too many people. But Jasper wouldn't have a hard time believing that the Gamemakers might use that eventually against the tributes. They wouldn't do it this early, because then the Games would be over far too quickly for pretty much anyone's liking, at least those in the Capitol.

The fucking _Capitol._ Jasper's vision turned red at the edges when he thought of how much he hated the ruling city of Panem. Because of them, he wasn't allowed to be with Cotton. Instead, he'd been thrust into this nightmarish situation from which there was no escape except for being the last person alive.

But that wasn't all. Jasper had realized something else, which made him even madder. _It's my birthday today,_ he thought.

Yes. Jasper Glossy was turning seventeen today. And, most likely, he would always _be_ seventeen years old. That thought chilled him straight to the bone, but there was little he would be able to do about it. All he could do was try to survive the best he could in these Hunger Games, apart from the Underdog Alliance. No doubt Taysom and the girls were pissed at him for deserting them, but what choice had he had? Twilight had thrown a ninja star at him, and Jasper, as much as he knew how beneficial alliances could be, still put his own life above those of the rest of his alliance. That wasn't selfish, he figured, because everyone else most likely had the same mentality. And if they didn't, then they were stupid.

That was how Jasper justified his desertion of his alliance. But he didn't want to dwell on what had already happened. He instead decided to look for food, or a place to hide. As he jogged down the lanes of this disgusting city, he thought he heard something. He stopped, trying to use his good sense of hearing in order to pick up on what it was.

 _Another tribute!_ he thought. _I've got to get away!_

Jasper didn't know who it was, but he strongly suspected that it was one of the Careers, going off to hunt for tributes right after the Bloodbath, like they always did. He had to get away!

Jasper ran, desperate to escape whoever it was. He looked around for a good place to hide. He could run fast, but not for very long. He'd need a certain level of concealment from the Careers, or some vigilante tribute from one of the other districts. He turned down a left fork in the road, and that was when he saw it.

A boutique was on the fifth door of the right-hand side of the street, at least from Jasper's perspective. He saw it, and it attracted his attention immediately. This would be a good place to hide, amid everything. Jasper jogged into the door, praying that his pursuer had not seen him. He then looked in awe at what was around him.

There were a lot of clothing stores in District 8, but nothing like this. Fabrics in all colors you could think of were piled up on the walls. If Jasper wore a different shirt every day, this store would keep him satisfied for about twice the length of his natural lifetime (without the Hunger Games), years worth of reds and greens and yellows and blues, as well as different patterns.

 _They'll never find me here,_ Jasper thought. His next thought was, _I. Am. In. Heaven._

If one hadn't known Jasper Glossy, one would think that the token gay guy would go to the clothing store first. The Careers knew that Jasper was smart, and thus unlikely to go to a _clothing store._ Jasper laughed to himself, thinking that he was very, very clever for this idea.

They wouldn't expect Jasper to hide in such a stereotypical place. Which was exactly why Jasper _was_ hiding in such a stereotypical place.

Jasper climbed up onto a rack about ten feet off of the ground. This was one of his weaknesses- he wasn't a very good climber. Granted, in District 8, there wasn't much that you could climb legally. Even so, he managed to make it up there, hiding behind an orange T-shirt and a purple T-shirt with the letters _SPQR_ on it.

With this, Jasper settled in for a nap. He was unaware of what was going on outside the store at this very moment.

Paolina had been searching for a place as well. She had spotted Jasper, but she wasn't going to kill him. She'd be stupid to try, since he had an alliance with five other tributes to back him up. Of course, one of those tributes was dead, but Paolina didn't know this yet. She wouldn't until the Capitol anthem played that evening and showed the faces of who had died in the last day.

The District 9 girl, being careful to avoid being noticed by another tribute, decided to take the opposite road that Jasper had taken. She found what appeared to be some kind of factory building on the edge of the city, which she had reached after running around the perimeter, a journey that had taken her two hours, ever since she had fled the Bloodbath.

Looking up at the factory, she decided that she would explore it later. For now, she had to ponder her next move in the Hunger Games.

* * *

"So the Bloodbath is over with" Brett said. He was leaning against the trunk of a Truffula tree, on the edge of the forest. Twilight had dressed his arm wound, and he was ready to continue on with hunting tributes. Anything to get back to his girl.

"So, guys...what's your favorite video game?" Zelda asked out of nowhere.

"What are you even talking about?" Glory said angrily. "WE'RE...NOT...TALKING...ABOUT...VIDEO...GAMES...HERE!"

"Sorry" Zelda said.

"Anyway..." Brett said, after Glory had given him a nod that said that he should now resume speaking, "We need to go out to hunt for some tributes. There's a chance that there might still be some in the vicinity, and we all know that it's better to get them sooner rather than later".

"I agree" Sparkle said. So far, she had said very little, preferring to stay in the background and not stand out too much. She feared that if she spoke up, she might end up embarrassing herself more than necessary. She didn't want to embarrass herself _at all._

"Here's what I've been thinking" Garnet said. "It's been two hours since the Bloodbath. We've all gotten a backpack, and we'll see what's in it right now. But then, we'll send two parties to hunt for tributes. One group of three to go into the forest, and one to go into the city. Who is volunteering to go into the city?"

The smoggy city was not very appealing to the Careers, so nobody really wanted to. However, that was how things were going to have to go, Garnet figured. They wanted to get some more tributes so that when the anthem played out that night, more than six faces would be shown in the sky. And they didn't want to lose more of their own. Memphis had been more than enough already.

"How about we check our backpacks first, and then we decide who will go to which part of the arena? Based on what is in each of our bags?" Twilight said.

The other Careers agreed that that made sense. So, Garnet opened his crimson red backpack, which revealed a sleeping bag, twenty rolls from District 1, a flashlight, and two heads of lettuce. Based on how many sleeping bags there turned out to be, they would share the items accordingly, perhaps taking turns in the bags and on watch, or just sharing them. As for the District 1 rolls, they were quite small, and they were most likely not going to last for too long. Rationing was going to be key.

Brett went up next. He'd chosen a mustard yellow backpack, from which he pulled out a fifty-foot length of climbing rope, three cans of refried beans, two bottles of water, and a Bible. He realized that this was the same bag that Vander had chosen initially, before Twilight had killed him with her ninja star. This made him feel a bit weird, handling a bag that a dead teen had been planning to use, but he reminded himself that with everyone that died, his chances at winning Estonia increased. And in the end, that was all that mattered to him.

Glory, in her indigo backpack, found a deck of playing cards, three District 6 loaves, and a flashlight. She felt that the last two items would be useful, but as for the cards, it was possible that they might have a _little bit_ of downtime in the Hunger Games, but they most likely wouldn't have too much time to just hang around and play poker. She was slightly disappointed, but not too much.

Twilight had already searched her seafoam blue backpack fully. In it had been the first aid kit she had used to treat Brett, a gallon of milk, and six golden delicious apples. She felt that this was not too shabby, and she was glad that she had found _something_ useful. In terms of the first aid kit, it might help more people yet. She didn't know, but it definitely helped to wait and see what would happen later, and be prepared for any possibility. That was what was important to be aware of in the medical profession.

As for Zelda, her orange backpack, almost bordering on yellow, contained three bottles of water, twelve rolls from District 8, and a box of Cheerios. That would certainly help, but it was quite a lot of starch, which would not help them with their mission to run to catch their enemies. She hoped that they could use this to help Zelda win the 64th Hunger Games, give District 3 some glory.

Finally, it was Sparkle's turn. She had eighteen rolls from District 10, and that was all. She was exceedingly annoyed at this, because she would need more than this to win the Games.

"All right" Glory said. "We've gotten all of our backpacks. I think that we should have three parties of two. Since Garnet has the most, how about he goes with Sparkle, who has the _least_?"

"Sounds like a plan" Garnet said. He had to admit that his district partner was pretty smart. "And then who will you go with?"

Glory was glad that she had already come up with a plan. "I'll go with Twilight" she said. "I think that we both have a fairly average amount of stuff in our bags, so we can use that to our advantage. Things will be fairly balanced out that way".

"I'll go with you" Twilight said, hoping that Glory would not kill her on this trip. She was not going to do the same to the District 1 girl, however. At least, not until the disbandment of the Careers occurred.

"That leaves you with me, Brett!" Zelda said.

Brett sighed. That girl was really annoying. For the last two hours, she had talked intermittently about her various interests, instead of the task at hand. She was useless, Brett figured.

* * *

And so, the Career tributes went out hunting.

Garnet and Sparkle took the eastern woods, Glory and Twilight took the northern woods, and Brett and Zelda went out into the city. They had agreed to meet back at the Cornucopia after the anthem, assuming all of them were still alive. Of course, they had no reason to assume that any of them would have died by the end of the first day. That was not how things usually went with regards to the Career pack.

At first, two of the groups were unsuccessful. However, Garnet and Sparkle found a target within twenty minutes. They were both surprised that the tribute had not gotten farther than this from the Cornucopia in the time since they had gotten away from the Bloodbath. That was, until they saw precisely who it was.

Duncan was still in pain from the overindulgence in his Turkish delight. He hadn't been able to move very quickly, and had been half expecting to hear the Careers behind him at any moment. However, he had not thought that he would end up being in trouble this early in the Games. And he had been right, so he managed to survive for the first two and a half hours of the Hunger Games.

At the time that Duncan had been seen by two of the Careers, he had been taking a break besides one of the arena's lakes. He leaned over the edge, trying not to fall in, as he didn't know how to swim. He tried not to heave any more, or else he would be likely to lead another tribute onto his trail, and he most certainly did not need _that._

And then, it happened. Duncan heard footsteps behind him, so he turned around, trying to prepare to flee from the scene in case it was one of the Career tributes. He was looking at the faces of Garnet Golds and Sparkle Waters. The two Careers were both standing behind him, looking absolutely murderous. Garnet was brandishing his spear confidently, looking like a wolf about to pounce for the kill. Sparkle, on the other hand, looked as though she felt that Duncan's death was an unpleasant necessity rather than something to be celebrated, but she was still going to help her ally go through with it.

Duncan checked to see, but none of the other Careers were with them. Evidently, they had split up into smaller groups for the purpose of hunting for tributes, which might end up being a very effective strategy, or else that might cause the alliance to unravel.

But Duncan wasn't thinking about any of this. Instead, the only thought that penetrated his consciousness was that he absolutely _had_ to escape from the Careers. Or else, he would die. There was no way around that.

Because Duncan couldn't swim, he stuck to the banks of the lake. However, the Careers continued to pursue him. Duncan couldn't run very quickly either, though, because of what he had done the previous night. Duncan was not one to binge-eat like that so much, so there must have been something about that Turkish delight...he pushed that thought out of his mind. _This is the only thing that matters._

Duncan could feel Garnet gaining on him, getting increasingly close to killing him. But he continued on, even as he began to feel Garnet nipping at his heels. More specifically, the District 1 boy's spear was. Duncan felt the spear make a long, thin cut on the back of his right leg, impeding his speed. The pain wasn't too bad except when he ran.

He was wounded, and he could no longer run. He had to hide.

Duncan decided to climb the nearest tree he could find. He wasn't very good at this either, being from District 6, because there weren't too many trees around there. And there were no branches on the Truffula trees. He had to shimmy his small body, full of Turkish delight, up the tree's narrow trunk. As Duncan did so, he could feel it swaying slightly. Was he doing this wrong?

At the same time, Garnet was waiting at the bottom of the tree. Duncan had been treed by the Careers, and he could tell that the pair of them were not going to be leaving him alone anytime soon. They were waiting him out!

The tree continued to sway. It was a wonder that it could stay up under its own weight, based on the sheer volume of the candy-colored tufts. Eventually, when Duncan gave another shimmy a few more inches up the tree, it gave a big jerk...and toppled over.

Duncan held onto the tree for dear life, which was a bad idea, because nothing he did could arrest his fall. When the trunk collided with the grassy forest floor, Duncan bounced back upwards into the air before landing on his stomach, full of Turkish delight. He heaved once more. Despite all of this, he wasn't seriously injured.

That all changed when Garnet thrust his spear into the District 6 boy's back.

The cannon fired. Sparkle congratulated Garnet. "Great job!"

"Thanks, Ms. Waters" Garnet said. "We should probably get out of here before they come to collect the body".

Sparkle agreed with him. Starting right after the Bloodbath, the hovercraft came in to retrieve the bodies of the dead. Things had been different last year because of the unique style of the arena, but this year things were returning back to normal. And she was grateful for that, because the bodies would start to stink eventually, as dead corpses always did.

* * *

Meanwhile, Flyte and Gleam were together. After the Bloodbath, despite the fact that both of them had sworn off any alliances, they had seemed to reconsider after Gleam had saved Flyte in the Bloodbath by killing Memphis. Gleam would have told Flyte that it was purely for herself, and that she wasn't trying to save the District 12 boy; it was just that when she had seen the chance to kill a completely vulnerable Career, she would have taken it.

That would have been the truth. But Flyte, as menacing as he looked, was actually very kind to her, and Gleam had to admit that it felt good to be facing the Hunger Games with someone other than herself.

Gleam brandished her axe. She wasn't going to go out of her way to kill any tributes, besides the Careers, but if the opportunity did present itself, she would try to dispatch them. She wanted to get back to District 5. That wouldn't happen if she died in the Hunger Games. She wanted to kill other tributes before they could kill her.

As much as she had hated her father, she had to give him the _very smallest_ bit of credit for being able to use the axe, even if it had only been to kill him. Without it, she might not have had a chance in these Games. Ironically, it might have been her abusive father who had been the most helpful in her getting an eight in training, quite a high score for someone from the outer districts. The thought made her feel sick to her stomach.

"So..." Flyte said, breaking the silence between them. She was glad for that, as it had been quite awkward just standing there, waiting for him to say something. Flyte was _huge,_ very muscular and clearly very strong with his club. He sure looked very attractive in his jumpsuit that they had worn into the arena.

Gleam realized that the older boy was still talking. She listened to him saying, "I wonder how long you think we should stay together? Alliances don't last forever, and, even though I've only known you for a week, I kind of like you. You seem nice, seeing you throughout our training period in the Capitol. I don't want to end up having to kill you".

"Then, if we reach the final two together, I'll kill _you_ instead" Gleam said. She was intending it as a joke, but Flyte Warsaw didn't take it that way.

"That's not funny" he said gruffly. "I still want to be in an alliance with you, but you can't just make such morbid jokes like that. Not when we're in the Hunger Games".

Gleam could feel her face redden. She hadn't meant to offend the guy. And she knew, somehow, that she didn't want to do that, even if she might be down to the last week of her life.

 _I know that he'll only kill me given the opportunity...and nothing in the Hunger Games is forever...but I can't help but like this guy. He sure seems genuine._

 _I must be insane._

 _I must be insane._

 _I must be insane._

* * *

 **I may or may not ship Flyte x Gleam. Let me just say that much.**

 **There will be one or two more chapters of the first day. At the end of the chapter in which the anthem plays, I will put the obituaries.**

 **After this story is over, I think that I might end up taking a break from SYOTs and do something else for a while. I still might do one in the future. But, for now, enjoy this one!**

 **Sincerely, SnowLucario**


	13. Overbearing

**Man, I'm feeling very frustrated right now. My family's Wi-Fi connection isn't working very well, and I am finding some of this writing a little bit repetitive. But I think that I'll keep going.**

 **I'm noticing that many of the people who have submitted characters have not taken the time to review the story and tell me how they feel about my portrayal of their characters. That really disappoints me.**

 **To those of you who HAVE reviewed, I really want to thank you. They really make my day.**

 **One last thing: For my own convenience, I will spell it Barbaloot instead of Bar-ba-loot. I know it may piss some of you off, so sorry in advance.**

 **All right, let's get this thing going!**

* * *

Dax was doing all right. At least, he thought he was. He had no way of knowing whether or not things were going better for him than they had been going for his sister at this point in the Games, because that arena had been a massive underground maze. As he trekked through the multicolored forest, he pondered this a little more.

Dax fingered his scythe. He didn't know if he would ever have to use it. If he did, though, he would not hesitate, as he would do anything it took to win, to avenge Aurora. He owed it to his family. No, to all of District 9.

At this point, though, Dax was looking for a place to sleep. As much as he wanted to stay in the woods, far away from anything metal (and he couldn't even be sure of _that),_ he had to face the dire reality that he had not gotten anything other than his weapon from the Cornucopia. He could either suck it up and sleep on the grass, or head into the city and try to find some building that it would be safe to camp out in.

Now the question was- how far was it? He had been going north by northeast ever since the Games had begun. According to his stylist, the start time for the Games had been at 12:29 PM. Based on that, it had to be at least three in the afternoon by now. And he'd been going farther and farther from the city.

Dax estimated that he was maybe seven miles away from the Cornucopia, as he had taken frequent breaks. Not for the first time, he wished that he had thought to grab a backpack along with the scythe. He could really have used some water, without having to head back to the Cornucopia, which was no doubt being guarded 24/7 by the Careers. Now, though, he would have to make the long trek into the city, risking detection, and he _might_ find what he needed.

This really was frustrating.

However, Dax had underestimated the mercy of the Gamemakers, which was an oxymoronic phrase. His life might have sucked thus far, but he had not considered that he might find a source of water in the arena.

Dax came across a small lake, perhaps a hundred yards long. The water within was crystal-clear, and it looked extremely inviting, just to jump in. But Dax had enough sense to abstain from doing that. He didn't know what sort of parasites might be lurking in there, and he didn't want to find out, at least not the hard way. Even if the water was safe to drink, let alone swim in, he didn't have any means of carrying it. And so he kicked himself for the umpteenth time for not thinking to grab anything else.

No. He had to go into the city. He had to face the reality that he might meet an end just as bad, if not worse, than his sister's.

Dax had never paid math that much attention. That had really been more Aurora's thing, since she was the one who had wanted to become a scientist before her untimely death in the last year's Hunger Games. Even so, he knew enough to know how far it would take him to get to the city.

If he had indeed walked seven miles in a consistent direction since the start of the Games, and the city was six miles from the Cornucopia, at least the part that he would be heading into, then he could form a right angle in there. His heart sank as he realized that he would need to walk more than nine miles in order to reach the entrance of the smog-filled metropolis. That wasn't anything he particularly wanted to do, especially given the fact that he had already come so far.

But Dax had never been one to just give up like that. Steeling himself for the long trek ahead, he made a very sharp left turn and began walking towards it, praying that he would be able to sustain himself once he reached there.

* * *

Dax had barely been walking in this new direction for ten minutes when he heard what sounded like a stampede through the forest. He looked around, panicking silently. He was worried that it might be the Careers, in which case shouting might just be the _worst_ thing for him to do.

He waited for two minutes, but no other tributes showed up. Telling himself that it must have been just his own imagination wrecking havoc on himself, Dax continued on his way. It was only five minutes later that it happened.

Three bear cubs the color of orange caramel were running towards Dax. These cubs looked just like the Barbaloot bears from that bedtime story that his parents read to Sable and Trac, his younger siblings. Hell, even he and Aurora had been exposed to that book.

 _What was that book called?_ The Lorax? he thought. That made sense, as that was what this entire arena seemed to be based off of. Even so, he had a hard time taking bear cubs from a Dr. Seuss book too seriously. That was, until they began attacking him.

Dax took out his scythe, and he began swinging it around. He was trying to get these off of him. The bears were perhaps three feet tall each to Dax's six feet even, so it should not have been a problem. However, they swarmed him pretty well, and he soon realized that these were no ordinary bear cubs. They were muttations, and one of them was about to sink its fangs straight through his heart. He swung his scythe at the bear just as it was about to bite him.

Rather than biting his heart as the bear had intended, the fang was spread all over Dax's left arm, straight from his breast to his hand. It had ripped clean through some of his jumpsuit. Sadly, he didn't think that any of this would be censored. A Barbaloot attack on a tribute would most likely be taking center stage right now. It had been three or four hours since the Bloodbath, so that was only to be expected, that the audience would be getting bored again.

That was a key thing to remember about the Hunger Games. Almost as much as the Gamemakers controlled the arena, the Capitol audience did as well. The Gamemakers could easily kill off a tribute who was too boring to watch. Dax didn't want to become that tribute.

And, suddenly, Dax noticed someone else in his field of vision. It was the District 10 boy, Dalton. The older boy was brandishing his spears, probably hearing an attacker nearby. Dax wanted to yell at him that he was getting attacked by bear cubs, but he didn't think that Dalton would care. After all, they weren't friends in this thing.

Still, though, his desperation got the better of him. "Hey, Dalton!" he yelled.

The other boy saw Dax's plight. He didn't look too eager to help, but as soon as he saw the bears that were attacking Dax, he realized that they also posed a threat to him. Dalton threw his spears at the bears, getting them off of the District 9 boy.

Once they were all dead, Dax looked straight into the eyes of Dalton. He wanted to thank the older boy, but Dalton was already running away. He didn't seem to want to interact with the other tributes that much. Dax, of course, shared those sentiments exactly. _After all, think about my sister. Look at her being in an alliance of four, and see where that got her! Slowly crushed to death between two trash compactor walls._

Dax decided that he should be on his way as well. He turned to his left, the opposite direction as his rescuer had gone.

He didn't look back, which was good. This was because two of the Careers had reached that same area in which Dax had been attacked. Luckily for Brett and Zelda, the Gamemakers had clearly decided that the Barbaloot attacks were getting boring. They wanted something new.

"What way are we going to go, Brett?" Zelda asked. "I'd love to get another tribute before the day is over".

"I'm just glad for that cannon" Brett said. "Let's go to the right".

"But-" Zelda said, protesting what appeared to be a completely arbitrary decision on the part of the District 2 boy.

"No 'but's" Brett said. "We're going right! You've got to learn how to be flexible!"

* * *

Meanwhile, Dax's district partner, Paolina, was exploring the arena on her own. She was glad to have escaped the Bloodbath without having to kill or die.

She didn't know how much longer her luck could last. So far, it had only been a few hours, so she hadn't pushed it too much. But she knew that the Gamemakers could kill her in a second if they found her too boring for the viewers. After all, that was one of the reasons for the Hunger Games. It wasn't just for the punishment of the districts, but it was also for the entertainment of the Capitol.

This made Paolina hate the whole Hunger Games system even more, but she was in no position to complain about that right now. Instead, she was heading into the city, which was a couple of miles from the Cornucopia. Luckily, she had fairly good stamina, which had been born from necessity, through her job back in the Wheatlands of District 9, which she would most likely never see again. She didn't like that thought.

The city was covered in smog. In her home district, the city part was almost as bad as this, but there had not been nearly this much smog in the air. She hated all of those factories, and she hated the ones here as well. She had become homesick for the poverty, for the hiding their rebellions from the Peacekeepers. The worst part of all of this was that she couldn't voice her frustration, because all of Panem would be watching her right now. The cameras were not trained on her every second of every day, but the producers would definitely show at least enough so that they knew her inventory and location. And really, that was all that anyone would really need. At least, Paolina really hoped that was the case.

She reached a bridge that led into the city, having taken a roundabout path through the Truffula forest so as to avoid immediate detection by the Careers. As she made her away across on foot, kicking it into high gear, she looked down. She instantly regretted it.

Twenty feet below her was a disgusting river. It was so polluted that it was the color of root beer. This was not a river that Paolina wanted to swim in.

Covering her nose in order to avoid the smell, she continued running across the bridge until she had made it into the city proper. There, she removed her hand from her nose and took a very deep breath. Almost immediately, she had a small coughing fit. That was just how polluted this part of the city was! Or maybe it was just that she was used to having fairly fresh air back at home, and in those multicolored woods.

Paolina continued looking around for a building. As she ran down the lanes, she peered through the smoggy air, looking for some kind of a sign. But then, she realized that it would be stupid to do so, reason being that if the Careers went looking for tributes in this part of the city, that would probably be one of the first places they checked. Paolina wanted to survive beyond the first day of the Games.

Finally, she found an innocuous-looking apartment complex, among what must have been hundreds of others, this city was packed so closely together. Paolina, despite being only a few inches above five feet, could have cloned herself twice and touched both buildings, they were really only about sixteen feet apart. And the more she thought about it, the more claustrophobic it made her feel. But she had to find something.

Paolina entered the building and waited for the elevator. Immediately, she kicked herself for it, because why would it come. And wouldn't the Gamemakers have made it a death trap in some way, shape, or form?

No, the only thing for it was to take the stairs. She didn't know what she was looking for, perhaps just a place to bed down for the night. Maybe a door that was a little weaker than the rest. Then, she realized the obvious. If she really wanted to break down a door to make it into an apartment, then she wanted to have some kind of a battering ram, something that she could use to gain some more force.

Paolina wasn't the strongest girl in District 9, but she could carry a chair for five flights of stairs. She eventually decided to climb as high as she probably could. She steeled herself for what she knew that she would have to do, and continued up the stairs.

Eventually, panting and sweating like a beast, she reached the top floor, the twenty-seventh. She looked for an apartment that looked desirable, and, when she realized that they all looked the same, she swung the chair as hard as she could at one of the doors. It didn't budge. She went out again, trying to break it down fully.

It worked the second time around. The door collapsed onto the ground, sending up dust along with it, which caused Paolina to have another coughing fit. However, she walked over the door in order to see what was inside.

She found herself in a small, single-family apartment. It had a small living room/kitchen, with one bedroom and a bathroom. It resembled a hotel room a little more than an apartment, but she was okay with that. It wasn't like she wanted to live here permanently. After all, even if she was lucky enough to become the victor, she'd probably never want to see this place again.

Paolina went over to the refrigerator, which was well-stocked, a surprise for the Hunger Games. She wouldn't have thought that the Gamemakers would provide the tributes with so much food. Maybe they didn't want to watch them all starve to death. _That'd probably be boring,_ Paolina thought to herself.

She was hungry. She found a loaf of pumpernickel bread, as well as two jars of peanut butter. Using these items, she made herself a sandwich. As she ate, she pondered ways to barricade herself in this apartment, because she obviously wanted to have a degree of protection from the Careers. And she wanted that quickly.

Immediately, the answer came to her. She pushed the refrigerator to where the door had been. That blocked her in pretty well. She looked out of the window, down all of the 27 stories. She didn't want to have to go out that way, but she'd cross that bridge when she came to it.

* * *

Dalton was still on his way through the woods. Ever since he had saved Dax, the District 10 boy had been on the run. He hoped that he had not made the Careers aware of his presence, as that would cause a lot more problems than it would solve, unless Dalton would be able to take all of them at once. He very sincerely doubted this, but only time would tell. As for where he was, he guessed that he was perhaps three miles from where they had been attacked by the Barbaloot bears.

He didn't feel bad for leaving Dax on his own. As much as he felt for the kid, being reaped only a year after his sister Aurora, he knew that this was a very deadly game, and there was only one survivor. Dalton had to make the best of a bad situation. He'd only saved Dax because, had he not taken out those lethal bear cubs, he would have died as well, and he most certainly did not want to do that.

As Dalton continued his trek, he spotted a lake. It was crystalline, and he could have just sat down there and drunk all of the water that he could. However, he knew that he probably shouldn't do that, in just the same way that Dax had earlier. This could be a trap.

Dalton, unlike the District 9 boy, was desperate enough to do that. He saw the Hunger Games as an adventure he was going on, albeit unwillingly. After all, his life back in the ranching district was pretty boring. He could barely have called it a life at all. At least here, there was something to fight for. Something to strive for.

Whenever Dalton thought about giving up when he was on his long walk, intermixed with jog, to this lake, his thoughts immediately flashed back to the starving children from 10. That gave him enough strength to keep on going. And now, he was going to take his chances with the lake water.

Dalton took out a canteen he had brought with him from the Cornucopia, having been unable to find anything else in the limited time he had given himself at the horn. He filled it with the lake water and put it to his lips. It tasted heavenly, much like Dalton's favorite food (apple crumble, which was hard to come by in District 10, but with Dalton's large amounts of money easily affordable when it did happen to be available). He immediately drank more.

Dalton had just finished chugging his third one-liter canteen when he heard rapid footfalls behind him. When he turned around, he saw something that he had hoped _never_ to see in these Games.

Two of the Careers were running towards him, weapons at the ready. Twilight of District 2, as well as Glory of District 1, were both brandishing their weapons, a spatha and ninja stars, respectively. Dalton immediately turned and fled. At least, he tried to flee, but the girls were fast.

Dalton eventually dove into the lake. After all, many people in Panem outside of District 4 did not know how to swim. Maybe the Career girls wouldn't follow him in here.

No such luck. Apparently there was a pool at the training academy for the Hunger Games. Glory easily got into the lake and swam like a fish, almost as quickly as Dalton. Dalton tried to get away, but Glory had the better weapon. With little or no effort, Glory Asphodel easily ran through Dalton Porter's heart. The District 10 boy slumped in the water, drowning in a mixture of crystalline lake water and his own blood.

"Congratulations, Glory!" Twilight said. "That was a pretty good, quick kill. That's the kind I think that we should be going for!"

Glory thanked her ally. Then, she swam back to the lake shore.

"So...when do you think we should head back to the Cornucopia?" Glory asked, drying herself off in the sun, which was becoming a little harder to do. The shadows caused by the sun's movement were getting longer and longer, and it was at least fifty percent past its zenith.

"Well, according to my skills at checking time simply based on the orientation of the sun", Twilight said, "it's approximately 5:11 PM".

"You're just making that up, aren't you?" Glory asked, somewhat indignantly.

"Maybe I am, maybe I'm not" Twilight replied.

And then, the two Career girls decided to start heading back towards the Cornucopia. After all, the day might have been beginning to wind down, and they wanted to be back at the Cornucopia with the other four Careers for the anthem. After all, they wanted to view the full list of the dead so that they could discuss their best strategy going forward.

* * *

Preston had escaped the Bloodbath very easily. He used his slender, fast frame to get into the city. However, he quickly became bored of the constant walking. In order to pass the time, he decided to continue thinking up an advertisement for the Hunger Games. That was what he enjoyed most, after all. Back in District 5, he had spent a lot of time thinking about this. Because of these meditations about corporate ads, he could almost feel like things were normal, when, in reality, his entire world had been rocked.

 _The Hunger Games...getting tired of your angsty adolescent son or daughter? Well, if there are enough entries in the reaping bowl, they will be taken on a journey by_ luxury train _to the Capitol. There, they will eat the finest food in the world and dress in flamboyant costumes for the Capitol citizens to gawk at. Then, after a week of living in luxury, they will be taken into the_ arena, _a beautiful outdoor landscape where they will participate in the very enjoyable activity of killing each other for the entertainment of the Capitol citizens. Isn_ ' _t that_ _great?_

 _No. No, it's not,_ Preston thought.

* * *

 **I know this was pretty short, but I wanted to get this out. At the end of the next chapter, we WILL have a list of the dead. Until then, continue to rate and review!**

 **SnowLucario out.**


	14. Detroit Rock City

**I just finished reading the third and final book in Marie Lu's** _ **Young Elites**_ **series. I'm not going to give it away, but it is a very surprising ending, and maybe not everyone will like it. It was cool seeing the character arcs of Teren, Raffaele, Lucent, Violetta, and of course everyone's favorite hillain, Adelina. But, like I said, no spoilers. I'm assuming no one will like that.**

 **In other words, I did a 15-turn game of Mario Party 7 for the camera. The first three parts are on my YouTube channel. I played as Yoshi, as always, and I set Boo, Birdo, and Dry Bones to Hard. You can watch that to see how I did.**

 **In any case, this is the final chapter of the first day of the Games. At the end, there is a list of who died and obituaries for them. I still highly encourage you to read this chapter through to the end rather than simply scrolling down. In any case, let's get this show on the road!**

* * *

The Underdog Alliance had successfully made their way out of the woods. However, they weren't in the clear yet. That would only come once the Games were over and done with, and even then there would only be one person who walked out of this arena alive.

"So...how are you guys holding up?" Taysom asked the girls.

Noelle and even Karla were managing to keep pace with the District 7 boy, while Lace was lagging a little behind them. She looked as though she might launch at any moment into a series of malicious complaints over what they were doing. However, she had the good sense to stay quiet, which pleased Noelle and Karla a great deal. The louder she was, the more likely they were to get attacked by one of the Careers. That would not improve their chances of survival. In fact, if that happened, it might be all but over for the Underdog Alliance.

"I'm doing well" Karla said. "I feel like I could run for the rest of the day, which might not be very long!" To support her last six words, she pointed at the sun, which was sinking behind the skyscrapers of the city, still a mile in the distance.

"Love the enthusiasm!" Taysom said. He was trying to keep his voice down for obvious reasons. He could have run much faster than any of the girls were doing, but the thing was that they had to make sure that the others could keep up. After all, they were all in this together, at least for now. That was the key thing to remember.

* * *

Jasper woke abruptly. He hadn't even realized that he had fallen asleep, surrounded by fabrics in all sorts of colors. He kicked himself for being so stupid, except he was careful not to _actually_ kick himself, just in case someone was going to notice the movement and be drawn onto his path, much like a dog with a bone. In this case, he was Rainsford, and Zaroff and his hounds could quite possibly be lying in wait for him.

Then, Jasper heard an excited, teenage-sounding male voice. "I had a feeling that the gay kid might be hiding in here!"

This chilled the District 8 boy right to the bone. The voice belonged to none other than Brett Mason of District 2. No doubt, the Careers had found him. He'd been cornered, and he would have to be as quiet as possible, making very little movement, so that he would not be detected. Then, he realized that that would be fairly useless. Given the exact words Brett had used, it seemed very likely that they had already seen him.

In which case, he had nothing to lose. He had to get away from here, regardless of what was waiting for him elsewhere.

Jasper, in a pose very similar to the scene from _Lucario And The Mystery Of Mew_ when Lucario emerges from Sir Aaron's staff, leapt off of the clothing rack. He hit the ground with a thud, which seemed to startle the Careers a little bit.

Speaking of the Careers, it was clear that they had split up, most likely into three pairs judging by the number of Careers standing in front of him right now. Brett and Zelda, however, seemed to be among the lesser-trained tributes in the Career pack. Garnet, Glory, and Twilight would probably not have even flinched in the slightest at the sound.

However, Jasper didn't give much attention to that thought. At the moment, his only concern was getting out of this situation alive. He jumped to his feet and, with catlike quickness, sprinted out of the clothing store. He didn't look back, but he could tell that the Careers were after him.

Jasper was one of the fastest boys in his year at school, back in his home district. Cotton didn't even come close, but then again, Cotton was not built like his boyfriend. Cotton was more strength-based, rather than speed. Jasper felt a little angry at his boyfriend, in this moment, for not volunteering for him. But then he realized that Cotton could not have done so anyway, because he was 19, a year out of the range of eligibility for the Hunger Games.

Sometimes life just wasn't fair.

In any case, Jasper might have been able to run very fast, but he knew that he couldn't keep this up forever. He'd need a way to make sure that the Careers would not be able to pursue him at _nearly_ the same speed. He wanted some way to make sure of his safety.

Eventually, he reached a multi-level parking garage, and he ran inside impulsively. He hadn't had much time to make this decision, so it was hurried. He didn't know exactly _why_ he was doing this. After all, this was just getting him from one cornered situation to another.

And then, Jasper saw what might be his salvation. A bile green Lincoln Towncar was parked on the highest level of the garage. Looking down, Brett and Zelda were still two levels below him. Jasper could make this work!

* * *

There was one small hitch in the plan. And by small hitch, it really should be said that that meant that Jasper was overlooking one very important thing.

He had never driven a car before, but he'd ridden with Cotton before, and he figured that he could glean what he needed from what he had observed. Luckily, the car was not locked, which was a relief. He didn't know what he would have done had it been locked.

Following the instructions that were in the owner's manual, perma-glued to the dashboard, Jasper managed to take the keys that just happened to be lying around and put them in the ignition. The car whirred to life, and then Jasper tried to control it. To his surprise, he was able to do this rather well.

Brett jumped out of the car's path just in time to avoid getting run over. Zelda was out of harm's way from the very beginning. But none of this mattered anymore to Jasper. Instead, she was simply focused on getting out of the parking garage, a difficult task for someone who had never operated this very complicated piece of machinery. Once again, he wished that Cotton could have been in here with him, but he certainly didn't wish death on his boyfriend.

Once Jasper was clear of the parking garage, after going through level after level of a stressful spiral, the car radio turned on for seemingly no reason at all.

 _Up next, it's time for a classic, nice '70s hit. It's called, "Detroit Rock City!"_

Jasper pictured the announcer and immediately tried to turn the radio off. He needed to concentrate on his driving, especially considering that he'd never done it before. And, the song that they were playing was pretty loud. He would have covered his ears, except that he needed both of his hands to be free in order to steer the Lincoln Towncar.

Little did Jasper know, the song "Detroit Rock City", while it sounded very upbeat, was actually the story of a real-life KISS fan who died while driving to a show while under the influence. Had Jasper known this, he would have hated the radio even more.

Okay. So this sounded like a reasonably good theme song for Jasper's flight from the Careers. It was still somewhat irritating that it had to be played at full blast, but you win some, you lose some, right?

Jasper continued going full throttle, steering whenever it was necessary. He didn't want to end up as a grease spot on the smoggy streets of this city within a Hunger Games arena. In order to avoid it, he had to make sure not to crash the Lincoln Towncar.

Well, Jasper was going to lose his mind in this arena if this kept going on. He wanted to win these Games more than anything, but this was still a pretty catchy song. Why was such a happy song playing during such an unhappy moment for him? He could be fairly sure that Brett and Zelda were not following him in another car, or maybe-

Jasper looked behind him. Sure enough, an MDX was driving right behind him, at roughly the same speed. Peering backwards, Jasper was able to confirm that the driver was, indeed, none other than Brett. Those fuckers were following him.

This sure was getting annoying. Why did this song have to keep repeating itself? And why hadn't Jasper changed into one of those shirts back at the store? _No, brain. Bad brain. I can't think about that, not if I want to escape._ Jasper pushed down harder on the gas pedal, and he was sure that he was going at least fifty or sixty miles an hour now. Even so, it was as if he had a magical touch for the car, managing to steer corners just in time, even when he was being pursued by Careers.

Did Jasper really hear what he thought he had heard? The singer of the song drank and smoked before getting in the car, in order to head for the concert? And why would it take him two hours to get there? That made no sense at all.

Jasper heard the chorus once again, and then came another stanza of the song. At this point, he was sweating profusely as he tried to keep the car going straight forward, except when he needed to turn.

If you told Jasper that he was driving at 95 miles an hour, he might have believed you. He was driving at such a high speed that he felt as though the wind coming through the windows was going to rip his arm off. The scary part was that Brett appeared to be driving at least as fast. Jasper might have been going at this car's top speed, but he needed to go faster to escape. At the same time, he didn't know if he would be able to control the car then. Brett had clearly driven before.

Once again, the chorus played, but Jasper was getting sick of it. He just wanted to get away from Zelda and Brett, and this music was pretty distracting from the task at hand. He barely managed to negotiate ninety-degree turn after ninety-degree turn, and he began to feel that it was only a matter of time before he crashed and burned.

Jasper was driving very, very fast now, and he didn't have any control anymore over his Lincoln Towncar. And then, he saw a truck ahead, its lights facing right at Jasper. And, instantly, he knew that the song was prophetic, in a way. And he didn't have any time to turn, or slow down. He knew what was going to happen.

Despite this, or perhaps _because_ of it, he found himself laughing at the irony of it. Yes, he was about to die. But the Gamemakers sure had given him a very memorable way to go out. The Capitol would never forget him.

And then, the Lincoln Towncar met the truck, and both exploded. Jasper Glossy was ejected from his seat, flew through the windshield, and hit the side of a building hard, breaking his tailbone. He fell, in excruciating pain, to the ground, and the impact killed him.

"Did you hear the song that was playing through the radio?" Zelda asked Brett excitedly, right after the cannon fired to announce Jasper's death.

"I heard snippets of it" the older boy replied. "Why do you bring this up right now? We're supposed to continue hunting, and we're running out of time. Why in the world do you want to talk about music at a time like this?"

"Because", Zelda said, "it was 'Detroit Rock City' by KISS. You know what that song's really about, right?"

"Girl, I've never heard of KISS, let alone _cared about the meanings of the lyrics_ ".

"Well, it's about-"

"Shut up" Brett said.

"-a young man who drives drunk to a KISS concert and dies on the way from hitting a truck" Zelda finished.

"I told you to stop, didn't I?" Brett asked in a dangerous voice. Zelda knew that, since she wasn't a full-fledged Career, Brett Mason might just kill her right here.

Luckily, the District 2 boy backed off. "Come on" he said. "We've got work to do".

* * *

In the meantime, Flyte and Gleam had headed into the city, about an hour before the sun went down fully. They had considered staying in the woods, but there wasn't too much cover in there, and it seemed like they had a greater chance of getting food and water in the urban environment. Besides, they wanted to have a nice place to rest. They'd definitely been moving for hours and hours, and they could use some rest.

"I think nine are dead" Flyte said. "Who do you hope is gone? Who do you think isn't a threat to keep around for too much longer?"

Gleam had to think about this for a while. She eventually said, "I _know_ that one of the Careers is dead. Memphis, the boy from District 4. I know this, because..."

Flyte could feel his face turning a little bit red. He was embarrassed at the fact that Gleam had had to save him from one of the Career tributes. He wished that he could have taken that back, but it was better for him to be alive than dead.

From there, the two love interests, as well as allies in the Hunger Games, went over to the fridge and got some food out for dinner. Gleam produced two dinner rolls and four slices of cold pepperoni pizza. It didn't have cheese on it, but at this point they didn't really care. They just wanted to eat something.

While they were eating, Gleam found herself looking at the well-built, muscular arms that belonged to Flyte Warsaw. All common sense in the world dictated that you shouldn't get into a Hunger Games showmance. But she didn't care at the moment. All she knew was that she wanted to know who came up in the sky.

And then, the anthem started to play.

* * *

Garnet and Sparkle heard the anthem begin to play. That meant that it was time for them to begin to head back to the Cornucopia.

"Let's see who's dead" Sparkle said to the District 1 boy.

"I agree" Garnet said. "But let's go".

They began jogging back through the woods. They were, at this point, only about a mile from the horn, so Sparkle was able to continue on her way even without eating more than she already had. The problem was that she had no one to confide in now, about her secret. Memphis, the only one she had told of the other Careers, was now dead, and he had told her not to tell any of the other members of the pack. They would probably not consider her useful any longer after that.

The first person to show up in the sky was Gauge from District 3, which wasn't a big surprise, given that he had been the very first one to die in the Bloodbath. Luckily, those from 1 and 2 were alive, Garnet was glad of that. Garnet himself was, of course, still alive, but he hadn't been so sure of Glory, Brett, and Twilight, and so he now felt relieved.

Unfortunately, the next person to show up in the sky was Memphis, the only Career to die in the Bloodbath, not a common event at all. And, also, they had known this already, given that Gleam had killed him right in front of Twilight.

Garnet could feel his hands clenching into fists when he saw them skip straight to District 6. Luckily, both Duncan and Jay were dead. Duncan wasn't surprising at all, since Garnet had killed him himself. And Jay had died in the Bloodbath. But the reason Garnet was so angry about this was because not only had Memphis's killer survived, but so had Preston, who had gotten a nine.

District 7's tributes were both still alive, which unnerved both Sparkle and Garnet. Jasper was dead, though, as well as Vander and both of the District 10 tributes. There were only four members of the Underdog Alliance left. That was a relief, as well as the fact that Jessie was dead, although Flyte was still at large.

Just then, the two tributes reached the lake in the middle of which the Cornucopia lay. The other Careers had not gotten there yet.

* * *

Glory and Twilight watched the anthem together, and they were also pleased with who had appeared in the sky. Even though Memphis was dead, it was still a relief that Jay was dead, although Taysom, who was probably their greatest threat, was still at large. The reason Taysom was a threat was because he had a large alliance at his command, and even though Jasper and Vander were no longer living, him and the three girls could still provide somewhat of a counterbalance to the Careers.

 _We'll need to be careful,_ Glory thought. _We don't want a counterbalance to the Career alliance. We want to be the_ only _big alliance running the show here, and if there's another group, that could put our dominance in jeopardy, which is one thing that we most certainly do not need._

As they continued on their trek back to the Cornucopia, Brett and Zelda were about two miles from the lake, currently in the woods. They had similar thoughts to the girls and Garnet about who was still alive.

"I think that Taysom, Flyte, and Gleam are the biggest remaining threats" Brett said. "What do you think, Zelda?"

The District 3 girl felt the same way, and she had no qualms about speaking her mind to Brett this time. She knew that she would have to try to get her tangents under control if she was going to win these Games. Her life depended on it, and so did her perceived usefulness to the Careers.

* * *

Preston had made it into the city successfully. Now, he had set up camp inside of a cinema located about a mile and a half from the edge of the city. He hadn't run into any other tributes on his way here, and he hoped that it stayed that way.

He had not managed to get any food from the Cornucopia, but he found popcorn and candy at the front desk, and he found that if he slept underneath a side row of four seats, his frame could be easily accommodated.

He had been worried a little about going outside to see the death recap in the sky. When Preston heard the anthem begin to play, he stood up in order to head outside.

As it turned out, though, that wasn't really an issue. The projector showed the death recap on the movie screen, so that Preston could view it as he would have viewed a short film. He saw that one of the Careers was dead, the boy from District 4. _Good,_ he thought. _That's one of those fuckers down!_

Jasper and Vander, both members of the Underdog Alliance, were also dead, which Preston was also glad about. Defusing as many alliances as possible would definitely help the people from the outer districts.

There was one thing that worried Preston, though. Memphis had been a pretty big threat, and, since Preston had gotten a nine in training, he probably had moved up a little bit on a lot of people's hit lists. He didn't like that idea, but it was something that he would have to live with.

* * *

Flyte and Gleam had now eaten their dinner, which tasted all right even though the food must have been sitting out for a while.

"So...your district partner's dead" Gleam said. "How do you feel about that?"

"I'm not too happy or sad, to be brutally honest" Flyte replied. "Jessie was kind of lame, there just wasn't that much to her. As much as I'm sad to see any tributes die, I realize that if you are to get out of here alive, then everyone else will have to die. And the same goes for me, and Preston, and Dax, and the Careers, and everyone else in this arena. That's just the way it is".

Gleam nodded. Ever since they had aligned with each other, she hadn't even tried to hide that she had feelings for Flyte. But the District 12 boy could tell that there was something that she wasn't telling him. Maybe it had to do with some event that had occurred in her past.

"Hey...uh, Gleam" Flyte said nervously.

"What is it?" she asked politely.

"I was just wondering...why do you always seem so nervous? It seems like there's a lot of built-up tension in there. Did something happen?"

Gleam suddenly was on the defensive. "I'll tell you in the morning" she said, somewhat evasively. "For now, let's just get some rest".

* * *

The Underdog Alliance had managed to scout out a hotel room to spend the night in. They were all very tense, not knowing what lay in store for them in the coming days, and possibly weeks, of the Hunger Games. Even Taysom betrayed a high level of anxiety, and the girls could tell that even he wasn't sure of his plan. But they still let him talk.

In the hotel, they had found some leftover food from the previous night's dinner. Anybody who had lived here had clearly been evacuated in the middle of last night, or else the Gamemakers would have simply had to place the food here. Either way, the alliance was very glad to have some form of sustenance that was provided here.

"Hopefully, it's not poisonous. What do you think, Taysom?" Karla asked the founder of the alliance, now the only boy left in its ranks.

"To be honest, Karla, I highly doubt it. I feel like they wouldn't just want to have the tributes eat the food and die off this quickly. Let's sit down and eat together, and discuss our plans for the morning".

Noelle, in that moment, showed just how brave she was by biting into an apple. Right then, Lace said, "I don't know. I'm certainly not going to eat from this fridge until I know, one hundred percent, that it's completely safe. Otherwise, I absolutely refuse to eat _one single bite_ of it".

"Suit yourself, Lace" Taysom said. "Enjoy starving to death, or else you can eat this very nice food that we have spread in front of us".

* * *

At the same time, Dax was sitting in the bough of a tree on the edge of the forest. He knew that there were at least two alliances out there, but he didn't know if there would be any others. Dax, however, did not want any alliances at all in the Hunger Games. If he was going to change things from how his older sister had fared the previous year, he would have to go it alone from here on out.

He was glad that there was a dead Career. He also noticed that both Preston and Gleam, great threats in their own right, were still alive. District 5's tributes were definitely a big threat, as well as Flyte from District 12, who was also still in this.

Worst of all, Paolina was still alive. Dax wished that she would have died. This was because, if she had died, he wouldn't end up with the task of killing her. Dax might not have wanted to have that much to do with her, but he definitely didn't want to end up with the task of killing her.

Once the anthem was over, revealing the nine tributes who had died on the first day, Dax sat back in the boughs of his Truffula tree and took out three small Truffula fruits. He tasted them. The flavor and texture were both similar to that of a plum, but they were slightly sweeter. So far, there were no negative side effects, but he hoped that they wouldn't come in the future.

With that, Dax climbed back down his tree in order to bed on the forest floor, using Truffula tufts as a mattress and blanket. He kept his scythe right behind him, just in case anyone came to attack him.

* * *

Finally, Paolina was still in her apartment, hoping that her barricade would be enough. She wanted to stay alive. After her small dinner of rolls and apples, as well as a little lettuce, she stretched out on her bed and fell into an uneasy sleep.

* * *

 **We have finally reached the end of the first day! Now that the dead tributes have been shown in the sky, it is time to pay tribute to these nine fallen warriors. Hopefully, this doesn't feel too tacked-on, but if you were okay with it in my last SYOT, then hopefully you'll be fine with it in this one.**

 **RIP Gauge, Vander, Jessie, Memphis, Jay, Ryla, Duncan, Dalton, and Jasper. There are 15 tributes remaining.**

 **Gauge: This guy was okay, I guess. He was not the most exciting for me to write for, but he came from the person who submitted Aurora for the last one. In the final standings for this story, I will give my friend beauthg03 credit for creating Dax, even though him being in this one was my idea. In any case, I liked the name of his friend, and I'm glad that he went out not having to kill anyone...that's a bit weird of me to say, but whatever.**

 **Vander: I wasn't a big fan of this guy. It had nothing to do with his religion, which, in case you were wondering, was part of the tribute form. The main problem with Vander Mordhix is that, according to the profile I was sent, all that was in his background was "Christian, believes in Jesus". The most fun I had with writing for this character was when I had him praying and reading from his Bible. In that way, I guess he could be considered one of the more genuine characters, because he falls back on his faith when everything else around him is going to shit, just like a lot of people do in real life. So...enjoy your time in the New Earth, Vander, if Christianity is the truth (which I believe it almost certainly isn't).**

 **Jessie: This was from the same person as the submission for Vander. I'm sorry, BirkaranDaReader, for having both of your tributes die in the Bloodbath. However, I feel that you have little or no right to complain, because you gave me very limited character profiles. Her art skills were definitely a little interesting, but she was never too spectacular. In addition, the most important thing about her background is, "her family doesn't believe in God". I'd just like to say, it's fine for her to be an atheist, but WHY doesn't she believe in God? This isn't a religious debate, it's about tributes in my stories having more complete backgrounds.**

 **Memphis: Caleb, I know what you are thinking. You're probably really mad at me for having Memphis die so early. And for that, I apologize. I just decided that I wanted to kill a Career in the Bloodbath. I realized that the best one to do so would have to be Memphis. He had such a sad backstory, and he volunteered to avenge his dead girlfriend. That's a background that we definitely can empathize with. And so, I do feel bad for killing this guy early, but I feel that this was a good character arc. Go be with Zoe, now, Memphis.**

 **Jay: She was a rebel, a member of the infamous Jordan family, and so the Capitol would probably not let her win anyway. Even so, I have to admire her spirit, and how she kept on, even after acquiring such a large target on her back. And, since this is an AU, I'm sad to say that the Capitol is never going to fall here. Sorry, Jay. It was all for nothing, even your untimely death in the Bloodbath.**

 **Ryla: She was described as an average girl, nothing more. I feel that she went through a thoroughly average week in the Capitol, got an average training score, and then died an average death in the Bloodbath. I'm sorry, Ryla. Her creator wasn't too happy with me, since it was her first Bloodbath tribute, but she has forgiven me for that. That's a relief.**

 **Duncan: At first, I really liked this guy. He reminded me kind of Leo Valdez (and thus, by extension, Leo Nale), with the fact that his mother, whose significant other abandoned her, works in a machine shop. Duncan was just too much of a big softie to last that long in the Games, I'm sorry to say. So, I decided to make things a little more interesting. Remembering the Narnia books, I decided to make Duncan overdose on genetically engineered Turkish delight. It certainly had the desired effect, I hope. Duncan's creator, none other than the famous Elim9, hasn't reviewed my story to tell me how I wrote him, which is a little disappointing. Even so, this was a good death, I think.**

 **Dalton: His creator said that he was the best tribute he had ever created for an SYOT. The reason I killed him off on the first day was in order to make the story flow the way I wanted to. I liked his "rich loner" personality, and not wanting to go the same way as his parents. I really loved Dalton, and I also liked the scene where he saved Dax from the Barbaloot bears. Another interesting fact was that in my last SYOT, both of the District 5 tributes died on the first day, while both of the District 10 tributes survived the first day. This time, it was the other way around. The District 5 tributes are both still alive, while both of the District 10 tributes have died. And, in case you're wondering, I did that on purpose.**

 **Jasper: This guy was doomed from the start. Reason being, the creator of this tribute also created Margaret, and I wasn't going to give Thomas another character win in one of my stories. Despite all of this, what I liked most about Jasper was that he was such an interesting character. I loved how he was addicted to clothing. Also, my favorite scene of his to write was most definitely his death scene. I loved having the theme song for his death be "Detroit Rock City", and having him die in a car crash at breakneck speed, escaping from the Careers. I thought it was PERFECT! I hope that you guys can forgive me for inserting lyrics into the story, if that is a problem for anyone in the fanfiction community.**

 **Okay, so those are our obituaries. I am hoping that you guys will rate and review, and I hope you enjoyed this chapter as well!**

 **I'm opening up shop for sponsors now. You can sponsor any tribute you like, so long as it is not your own, and you have reviewed the majority of chapters in this story. You may only sponsor by PM, and I have the boot order all figured out, so please just sponsor something simple, like food or a weapon. In any case, that's that.**

 **SnowLucario out.**


	15. Morning Sickness

**I am having a little trouble with writing, or rather enjoying writing. I don't know if it's writer's block or writer's sloth or whatever, but the idea of continuing with Lorax is tough. I definitely think that this is likely to be my last SYOT Hunger Games. At some point, I might do an SYOC Battle Royale scenario, though. That'd be cool.**

 **I am hoping that someone will sponsor, eventually. I'd really love that, and as long as you remember those rules, then you are good to go for sponsorship. You could help make this story more interesting!**

 **One last warning: This chapter is not for those with weak stomachs. Proceed with caution.**

* * *

Gleam had fallen asleep in Flyte's arms, believing that things could get better, that there could still be some hope for them. She was in an alliance, after all. And then the morning brought the dire reality into play: this was the Hunger Games, and there was never any hope for any couples to grow and develop, because in the end at least one of them would die, probably both.

 _Well, then we'll be together in heaven,_ Gleam thought. She didn't know if she believed in heaven or not, but it was nice to think about, that maybe, just maybe, there might be something other than just this. But in a world like this, it didn't seem likely.

She looked over at Flyte. He was so handsome, he was so kind to her, and she had to admit that she was more than a little attracted to him. She could definitely see herself getting into a relationship with him.

And yet. The fact remained that Gleam was still too nervous to tell Flyte her story, that she had promised to tell him in the morning. And now, it was morning.

Flyte was still asleep, and Gleam figured that she should let him get a little more rest. He had been up half the night on watch, and now Gleam was taking her turn. If the Careers came, she didn't know if one axe could help against a 220-pound boy with a sword, but it was definitely better than nothing. And she was going to take all of the help she could get.

* * *

It was probably about six in the morning, Glory thought. She was up earlier than any of the other Careers because she had taken the last watch. Looking at all of her sleeping allies, she realized just how vulnerable they were. If she wanted, she could kill them right here and now. Of course, the cannon would announce their deaths, but the fact remained that she was being trusted with the others' lives. This was a big deal, and not something that Glory was going to take lightly.

She felt a little regret that she had decided not to turn on her allies. She loved the Capitol, and she would have loved to give them more of a show. However, her own life took priority over those of the other tributes. She would walk through broken glass for the utopian city that ruled all of Panem, but she wouldn't simply throw her life away just to make the Hunger Games a little interesting. She was sure that they wanted her to _win._

Suddenly, she felt a little ill. This was completely inexplicable. After all, none of the other tributes had seemed to be sick, and Glory normally had a very strong stomach. She kind of had to after the abuse she had endured at the hands of her parents. And a strong stomach was also a necessity if you were going to be in the Hunger Games. You didn't want to be one of those people who fainted at the sight of blood, like Elegance Elysia had the previous year, at least if 63rd victor Margaret Malachi had been telling the truth. And, really, why wouldn't she be? She was aligned with the Capitol again, and, by extension, an ally of Glory's.

Glory was sure that, if she won, she would become best of friends with Margaret. That was what happened, after all. The victors often bonded with each other over all having something very important in common. They had survived the Hunger Games, which was no mean feat. Glory felt sure that she could do it, but she knew that it wouldn't be easy for other tributes, especially the ones who weren't Careers, who hadn't been training all their lives for this.

Again, Glory was forced to look at the horizon when she felt a second wave of nausea roll over her. It wasn't too bad, and it passed quickly, but she was confused with what was going on. She didn't think she had eaten too much the previous day, and there was no way that the Capitol would have poisoned the food like that, or at least purposely made it unfit to eat. Right?

Soon, though, she figured that she would wake up the others. Garnet, Brett, and Twilight would no doubt be up for another day of hunting down tributes from the other districts, with the Underdog Alliance at the very top of their hit list. After all, the foursome that Taysom had formed, which had been whittled down to that number from the original six, were very tight, and the Careers wanted to be the only big alliance in the Games. That would just be better for everybody, Glory figured, and so did the other Careers.

As for Zelda, she was annoying with her constant video game talk, but she was still a useful asset and member of the team, for sure. Sparkle was the real problem, though. She was definitely their weakest link, and she always talked about how important it was that she ate dinner. _Like, I know you're hungry. We_ all _are. Put a sock in it._ Did she have OCD or something?

Right now, though, Glory was happy with where the Careers were at. She went into one of the backpacks that they had gotten from the Cornucopia during the Bloodbath yesterday, the orange-yellow one that Zelda had gotten. She made herself a bowl of Cheerios, using the plastic bowls that had been provided in one of the backpacks that the Careers had not grabbed initially. They hadn't wanted to let anyone else get control of the horn, though. That was another key part of the Hunger Games: If you controlled the Cornucopia, you essentially controlled the entire game.

Glory poured some of the milk from Twilight's blue bag into her cereal bowl. She then ate an apple from the same bag. It all tasted great, except that the milk had a slight sourness to it. And her small breakfast had not settled her stomach, though. She was still feeling a little green around the gills, and she was worried about the implications that it might have for her game.

For the moment, though, she decided to make getting breakfast ready for the other Careers her priority. She laid out ten District 1 rolls, two for each of the other five members of the Career pack, and poured each tribute a glass of milk, which seemed all right to her. She'd just been imagining the sour taste in her mind. Yes, and she hadn't really felt sick earlier either. She was completely okay.

Just then, an incredible wave of nausea forced her to her knees. She soon found herself emptying the contents of her stomach into the swampy lake, which may or may not have been what the Gamemakers had intended. Probably not, though- why would the Gamemakers do that?

* * *

Taysom awoke to streams of sunlight working their way through the blinds of his hotel room. For a few seconds, he wondered why he felt so worried, and yet so satisfied at the same time. Then, he remembered where he was. He lifted part of the covers off of his body, and then realized that he had to be careful. He didn't want to wake Karla up.

It all came back to him now. He was in the Hunger Games, and he'd volunteered to save his cousin's life. He'd formed a large alliance, four of whom were still alive, including himself.

Karla wasn't on his bed, though. This confused Taysom, until he saw the digital clock on his bedside table. It read 7:23 AM, so it wasn't unthinkable that Karla might have risen before him. Taysom was sometimes a heavy sleeper, which was not a useful quality to have in the Hunger Games.

When Taysom went out of his bedroom, the three girls were all sitting around the breakfast table, where they had laid out bagels and sliced peaches.

"Hello, sleepyhead" Lace said, in a voice that told Taysom that she still thought that she was _sooooo_ superior to him, simply because she woke up earlier than him.

Noelle rolled her eyes, as did Taysom. The three girls had already dug into their sandwiches that they had made for themselves, so Taysom decided to do the same. He decided to ask what they wanted to do this morning.

"Do you want to go out hunting for other tributes, or mainly stay here?" the District 7 boy, as well as the only living male member of their alliance, asked the three girls.

"I'm not killing anyone" Noelle said.

"That's _part of the game_ " Lace said. "If you don't want to kill anyone, then you might as well commit suicide right now, because there's no way that you could win these Games without killing".

"Margaret kind of did last year" Karla pointed out.

"Still, though" Lace said. "I'm sorry for being so harsh with you guys, but I want to make it clear that you can't just be such a pacifist if you want to have any shot whatsoever at survival".

"That wasn't nice" Taysom said harshly to the District 8 girl, who seemed to be acting pretty full of herself this morning. This despite the fact that her district partner had died on the previous day.

"Look" Noelle said. "Morbid jokes are not appreciated when we are in the Hunger Games. Isn't that right, Taysom?"

"I wasn't _joking_ " Lace said.

"Everyone, just _forget it!"_ Karla shouted, louder than was probably wise. "Right now, we eat. Later, we'll discuss our game plan, and whether or not Lace said something wrong just now". She shot a glare at the older girl, who remained expressionless.

"I agree with Karla" Taysom said. "Let's decide later what to do".

* * *

Glory's retching had aroused Twilight, despite the fact that the District 1 girl had tried to throw up as quietly as possible. No teenage girl should have been able to wake up that early, with _that_ little noise.

"How did you..."

"I have superhuman hearing" Twilight said. Immediately, the District 2 girl regretted her words. _Oh, why the fuck did I tell her that? Now, she'll see me as a threat, and might try to kill me in my sleep! I won't be getting any sleep from here on out, that's for sure! Oh, it could REALLY hurt my game if Glory tells the others..._

"What caused you to have such great hearing?" Glory asked.

"Please don't tell anyone, but my mother's a medic, and I was hard of hearing as a child. I didn't want to wear hearing aids, so my mother got the doctors to perform a surgery on my ears. Now, I can hear much better than any normal human being".

"Don't worry" Glory said weakly. "Your secret is safe with me".

"More to the point, though...I heard you throw up just now. What happened?"

"I wish I could tell you. I don't think I picked up a bug in the Capitol, everyone's vaccinated against everything there. Norovirus, the flu, chicken pox...that's all out, I should think" Glory said, willing herself not to throw up again.

"I don't want you passing it on to everyone else, if what you have _is_ contagious. If your symptoms persist for over two days, if you can't keep down liquids, then you should call your local doctor or go to the emergency room, in which case you might need to get an IV of fluids. And make sure that..."

"Twilight" Glory said.

"Yes. Why did you interrupt me?"

"Twilight, you do realize that none of that applies here, right? There are no hospitals in the Hunger Games, and you've been rambling on and on. And really, I won't need that. I'm going to be fine". Glory sincerely hoped that she was right.

"Sorry" Twilight said. "I have a bit of ADHD. You know, attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder. I sometimes go off on tangents".

"Sounds like Zelda" Glory said. "Maybe you're secretly a lesbian, and you'd date her". She said that in a playful manner, or at least she was trying to sound that way.

Twilight laughed, not what Glory was expecting her response to be. "You might be right, I don't know. But let's get breakfast started. Those boys are so lazy. The sun's literally _right in my eyes_ ".

"Don't worry" Glory said. "I already made breakfast".

"I'm not eating it, then" Twilight said. "No offense, but I don't want to get sick. But I'll let the boys, and Zelda, and Sparkle, eat it. Then, they'll see".

"Okay" Glory said, her eye twinkling a little. Then, she leaned over and heaved once again.

"Glory, quite seriously, you're not well. I know enough medicine to be aware of that. What do you think we should do? Why do you think you got it?"

"I...don't...know" Glory groaned. Within the time that she had been throwing up just now, the other Careers had all woken up at the sound.

"Whoa, Glory" the half-awake Zelda said. "Do you think you're sick? What did you get?"

"I wish I could answer that question" Glory said. "Unfortunately, I can't. And I already ate breakfast, and set it out for you guys".

"No way!" Zelda exclaimed. "There's no way that I'm eating anything that you made! Um, no offense" she said.

"None taken" Glory replied. "I understand, it's nothing personal".

"Personally", Brett said, "I'm eating breakfast. I need my energy for a day of hunting down tributes, and I won't get that by skipping breakfast. And I think that you guys should eat as well. Keep your immune systems up".

"He's right" Garnet said. "We'll need to keep our strength up, or else we'll never get them all".

Garnet went to his spot and took a dinosaur bite out of the roll set in front of him. He loved the bread from District 1, because it was the perfect mix of sweet and doughy. The other districts really were missing out.

Sparkle was conflicted. She knew that she had to eat breakfast in order to keep up her blood sugar, and have a chance at surviving the Hunger Games. At the same time, she didn't want to get sick. Sometimes, when she got a stomach virus, because of her illness, she would have to go to the hospital because she was at high risk of hypoglycemia. And there were no hospitals in this arena, not that she knew of. She'd have to make her way through the rest of these Games, and she didn't want to eat anything Glory had prepared for her.

Instead, she ate one of the District 10 rolls that had been provided in her bag. What she didn't realize was, that was the worst idea of all. For it was not Glory preparing the food that would make them all sick. Rather, it was the fact that the food had not been prepared properly. But Glory Asphodel, even if she had known the truth, would not have admitted it even to herself, because she trusted the Capitol so fully.

* * *

It was now about ten in the morning, and Flyte and Gleam had decided to go out hunting together. None of them were really too eager to kill anyone, but it wasn't like they had anything else to do. They couldn't just wait back in their apartment and wait for their muscles to atrophy, or at least their energy. They had to take an active role in getting the numbers of tributes farther down if either of them wanted to win.

Gleam felt a knot form in the back of her throat. They had crossed into the woods a few minutes ago, and she now felt like she was falling into the bottom of the earth. At least, her stomach did. She could only think about what she had promised that she would tell Flyte this morning. Now, she was starting to have second thoughts about it.

 _He'll probably think I'm a monster,_ part of her said.

 _He's a great guy! He deserves to know the truth,_ another part of her said.

Gleam didn't know which side of her to trust. She hoped that Flyte would initiate the conversation, not the other way around. She didn't know if she would have been able to get through the talk if she entered into it of her own sweet will.

"Hey, Flyte, remember how you asked me about my past last night?"

The older boy looked over at her. Since they had left the apartment, he was beginning to look a little more in his element, surviving out in the wild. She decided that this was the part of him that she was more attracted to. She liked his more natural aspect.

Part of their chemistry might have been due to the fact that they were both from power districts. District 5 produced electricity, District 12 produced coal. But that wasn't all. He was just genuinely a great person to be around.

"Yeah. What were you going to tell me?" Flyte said in response.

It was too late to back down now, or else he might not trust her going forward. At least for now, they needed each other. And Gleam wasn't going to lie to her ally, no matter how tempting it was.

"My father was abusive, and we hated him. My brother and I concocted an elaborate scheme to kill him, which succeeded. We still have our mother to deal with, but she's not _quite_ as bad as he was. You probably hate me for that, don't you?"

"No, I don't, Gleam" Flyte said. "To tell you the truth, I actually appreciate it that you were so honest with me. You also seem very brave for doing that. I wish I had that bravery".

"You're pretty brave not to leave right now" Gleam said.

Right away, she knew that she had said something wrong. Flyte didn't look offended, though. He simply said, "Why? I had an abusive dad, too".

"You did?"

"Yep. And I ran away, and lived on the streets of District 12 until I was reaped for the Hunger Games. What do you think of that?"

"I feel bad for you. Even after my dear old dad died, we still had a place to live besides the streets. I am from the poorest part of 5, though. I've heard that 12 is a really poor district, isn't it?"

"Yeah" Flyte said sadly. "We're the most impoverished district in the entire nation of Panem. There's the merchant class, which is like ten percent of the people, and then there's the Seam, the rest of the district, which is pretty much miners and their wives and children. It's pretty bleak there".

They had a lot in common, Gleam realized. This might be a very happy alliance for the two of them. Her only reservation, except that it was the most important thing of all in the Hunger Games, was that they would never live happily ever after. There would be no fairy tale ending to this story.

* * *

Paolina had managed to make it through the night. Looking around at her destroyed doorway into the apartment that she was hiding in, she realized that she would need more protection. It was only out of sheer dumb luck that she had survived without having any Careers come in.

She looked inside the fridge for something to eat for breakfast. Eventually, she found some District 7 bread, the type with Yule log patterns on the inside. She immediately dug in, grateful for the calories. It also tasted pretty good as well.

 _Day 2 of the Hunger Games, and I've managed to keep my conscience intact. So far, so good. Whether or not it'll be able to continue this way is anyone's guess, but we'll have to wait and see._

There was no way that she was going to align with anyone, least of all the Careers. She was going to stay a loner for the rest of her life, unless she won. She would most likely never see her family again. The thought made her sick to her stomach at the Hunger Games system, but she was of course in no position to rebel against it, not from inside the arena.

Paolina looked outside the window, trying to see if there would be anyone coming up on her hiding spot. She desperately hoped that there wasn't anyone, because if there was, she was done if she didn't want to kill anyone.

Luckily, the streets below her apartment seemed to be deserted, at least from her vantage point. Satisfied with this, she sat back down and finished her breakfast.

* * *

Now that all the Careers were awake, and had eaten breakfast, they were discussing the best plan of attack for the rest of the day. After all, they wanted to hunt down as many other tributes as possible, and that wouldn't happen if they all stayed behind at the Cornucopia with Glory, who had thrown up twice more since breakfast, which she had already eaten before vomiting for the first time.

"I'll stay with Glory" Twilight said. "I'm good with medicine, and I can help Glory if she needs to be helped. The rest of you can all go out and hunt together.

Garnet and Brett stood together, looking like they were all primed up for a day of hunting. Suddenly, Garnet clutched his stomach. His face began to turn green.

"What's wrong, Garnet?" Sparkle asked weakly. "You look...kind of...sick to your stomach, you know".

"I'm fine" Garnet said curtly. "I just...want to go out hunting".

"You don't look good, dude" Brett said. Brett was starting to feel a little queasy himself, if the truth had to be told.

Before Garnet could retort, he let out a gasp before spewing chunks all over the ground.

* * *

 **Cliffhanger!**

 **Yes, I know it's short, but I hope you still enjoyed it regardless. It was going to be a little longer, but I figured, why should I make the chapter longer? I wanted to end it on this note, because I think it's pretty funny.**

 **Labyrinth has passed 4,700 views, and Lorax is fast approaching 1,800. I'm hoping that you guys rate and review!**

 **One last thing: Luka11303 is making a blog about this story. Once I figure out how to reach it, I'll tell you guys all about it. Or you could just check it out yourself. Either way, that is AMAZING!**

 **Until next time,**

 **SnowLucario**


	16. Speaking For The Trees

**I hope that this chapter is to your liking! It's about twenty percent longer than the last one.** **In any case, please rate and review, and I'll try to keep writing and updating this.**

 **As for the blog, it is located at .com, and that's where you'll find pictures of the tributes and their stats. It honestly helped me remember some of the things that I, myself, had forgotten even after writing this for a little over a month.**

 **In other news, I played another run-through of Star Fox 64, part of which I put on YouTube. My channel has the same username, SnowLucario. I have two subscribers, both of whom are boys at my school in the grade above me. I also took the PSAT, and I HATED it so much! Ask me in a PM if you'd like.**

 **In any case, it's time to get farther into this!**

* * *

The day had begun over the arena of the sixty-fourth Hunger Games. The sky was blue, and very peaceful and simple. Dax wished that he could ascend into the clouds, and go to a place far, far away, where none of this mattered, where everything was simple. And maybe, just maybe, he'd find Aurora there. Maybe she'd been taken up into the sky after her death in that trash compactor tomb. On the ground, though, everything was chaos. Tributes were waking up all over the place, and now they were finalizing their plans for the day.

Preston was the last one to wake up in his dark theater. He'd slept well due to having a good amount of candy and popcorn to feast on. In this respect, he was probably better off than most of the other tributes, besides the Careers. To a certain extent, though, he kind of _was_ a Career tribute. After all, he had a score of nine, and he _had_ volunteered for the Hunger Games, even if it had only been to save his friend, and not simply because he enjoyed it. He despised those people for perverting the Hunger Games system, even though Preston despised it so much himself.

According to the digital clock in the theater's lobby, it was 10:19 AM, meaning that Preston had been asleep for nearly eleven hours. Normally in District 5, he was up until ten and woke up by six in the morning, making for eight hours of sleep at most. He didn't know why he had slept so soundly in the Hunger Games, but he decided not to worry about that too much. He just was glad that he had survived the night, when anyone, particularly the Careers, could have just come in here and killed him in his sleep.

As Preston took a swig of water and ate some popcorn, he thought about his next move. Would he stay inside the theater? Or would he leave and try to find another good place to hide? If he stayed in the same place for too long, that was just asking for trouble. Of course, if he went out and tried to run to another location, there were no guarantees that he wouldn't be seen by an enemy tribute. Nobody was likely to spare him, considering that he was most likely a large target by many of the other tributes in this arena.

 _Well,_ Preston thought. _At least I've got plenty of food and water. It could be much, much worse. I'm going to do this, Ethan! I can do this! I HAVE to do this._

* * *

The Underdog Alliance had left their apartment, with plans to change locations every morning so as not to get pinned down on one location. After all, a Career only won the Games about half of the time, and part of that might have been due to their predictability. They always seemed to set up their camp right at the Cornucopia, making it very easy to know where to go in order to launch an attack on them.

Taysom and his alliance were determined not to make the same mistake. After eating breakfast, they had packed up all of their things and decided to migrate to another apartment. They were looking for a place that was well-stocked, and definitely not in the same building. To do this, they would have to venture out into the city, which was a dangerous exercise considering that there could be any number of tributes who might be able to see them leaving their apartment and going to the next place.

Luckily, the journey was uneventful. The members of the four-strong alliance tried to make as little noise as possible. If they were seen, it was game over. The Careers had much better weapons than them, and each one of them had received a higher score than any of the members of the Underdog Alliance, with the exception of Noelle. However, Taysom strongly suspected that the only reason that Noelle had gotten such a high score was because the Gamemakers had wanted to mark her as a target for one reason or another.

It wasn't until they had arrived in the lobby of another apartment building, about a quarter of a mile away from where they had slept the previous night, that anybody spoke.

"So...are we going to stay in here?" Noelle asked.

"It looks good to me" Taysom said. "I vote yes. How about you, girls? Do you want to spend tonight in this very nice apartment building?"

"I vote yes" Karla said. She wanted to agree with her district partner, because she saw him as a brother figure to a certain degree. Besides, she had to agree with him that this place looked very nice. Unlike the rest of the city that they had explored so far, this building smelled of freshly cut cedar wood. It reminded her of her home back in District 7. This thought saddened her more than she liked to admit.

"I'm cool with this" Lace said.

Noelle also approved, not that it would have mattered even if she hadn't. They already had a majority of three out of the four members of the alliance.

Just then, Taysom sneezed, spreading dust particles throughout the air.

"What's wrong, Taysom?" Lace asked. She sounded disgusted that this big District 7 boy had the _nerve_ to sneeze in front of her. Of course, he couldn't help it.

"Nothing. It's just allergies. Stuff that's not native to District 7...I'm not used to". He sneezed again, this time holding his nose so as to make as little noise as possible.

He felt bad about this as he looked at the rest of his alliance. Because of him, they might all be revealed to the Careers. He knew that he didn't want to be the one responsible for leading the Underdog Alliance directly to its doom. Of course, he didn't know what else he could do.

"It's fine, girls. I'll be as quiet as possible. If I have to sneeze, I'll do it towards the floor. Or the sky, depending on what floor we're going to stay in".

"Okay" Noelle said.

Taysom took it as his cue to begin climbing the stairs. He decided to go up to the twenty-sixth floor, because that was the sum of all of the districts present in the alliance. Then, he remembered that he didn't want things to look too predictable.

Instead, he decided that they would go four floors down, which they did. Then, in front of apartment 2243, he tried the door, which sprang open with little effort.

"Well, I guess we're staying here tonight!" he exclaimed.

* * *

With the Careers, all was not well.

As soon as Garnet had thrown up for the first time, Brett and Twilight had jumped backwards, trying to avoid the spread of the bug, or whatever it was. Zelda was keeping her distance the whole time, and Sparkle was praying that it wasn't contagious. _If it is, I'm doomed,_ she thought.

That wasn't a good thought to have, but she knew that it was the truth. She needed to do everything she possibly could to avoid getting a stomach bug while in the arena.

Now, Garnet was half sitting, half lying down inside the Cornucopia, trying to fight back further waves of nausea. Glory had just cleaned up the mess that her district partner had made, while at the same time trying to avoid heaving more.

Although he didn't want to reveal this to anyone else, Brett was feeling a little green around the gills as well. He might not have thrown up yet, but he had a feeling that it was only a matter of time. That didn't solve the problem of just _how_ they had gotten sick, or why. Brett sincerely hoped that it was just a little thing that they had caught before leaving District 1, since they were both from there. At the same time, he didn't see how that made sense. It wasn't as though there were too many stomach illnesses that had an incubation period of 8 days.

"What should I do? To prevent anyone else from getting sick?" Twilight asked.

"I don't know if that's possible" Zelda said. "If we're going to get sick, we most likely will already have been exposed, in which case there's nothing we can do. We'll just have to take what comes for us and hope that we can survive this. Right, Brett?"

Brett nodded.

Suddenly, Sparkle looked right at the District 2 boy. "You're pale as a ghost! Are you..."

She didn't finish the sentence. That was because Brett leaned over, as if he had been kicked in the groin, and vomited all over the ground. Some of it covered Garnet's yellow backpack. Sparkle didn't care about getting low at that moment. She knew that there was no way in hell that she was going to eat anything from Garnet's backpack anymore.

This removed all hope that there might have been that the stomach problem that Glory, Garnet, and now Brett had was just a District 1 bug. Now, it was clear: the cause wasn't native to District 1.

It was all around them. And Twilight thought that she knew what was going on. _Exactly_ what was going on.

The rolls...the District 10 rolls, more specifically. She had been right not to eat them, or drink the milk. All of the pieces had immediately come together in her mind, as if someone had just flicked the light switch on in a dark attic, and it had immediately become clear exactly where everything was.

The District 10 bread had ground beef on the inside. The meat must not have been cooked properly. And the milk was spoiled. That was why she hadn't gotten sick, at least not yet.

She'd made the right decision.

* * *

As for the Flyte-Gleam alliance, they had headed back in the woods in order to hunt. Gleam was brandishing her axe in front of her, looking for another tribute to take down At the same time, Flyte held his club as though it was a baseball bat. He didn't want to use it, neither did Gleam want to use her axe to kill another tribute. Memphis had been more than enough for her, but she had had to protect herself.

 _And Flyte,_ she realized. She hated herself for it, but she was definitely beginning to develop full-out romantic feelings for him. This could only end up holding her down in terms of her potential for winning the Hunger Games. She needed to get back to James, the only member of her family that she loved.

Looking at Flyte, she realized that she put her brother, who had helped free them from her tyrannical father, took precedence over someone whom she'd only known for a _day._ But this alliance could still be useful to her, though. She decided not to just run away right here.

The trip was not a success. They hadn't found any other tributes, neither had they managed to find anything that they could possibly eat. Gleam was only hoping that they could manage to find a place to bed down in the woods, because she didn't know if she and Flyte would be able to find their way back to their building. Even with this, they had been stupid enough to leave their supplies back in the apartment. If they couldn't get back to their hideaway, then there was no way that they could get their stuff back.

Flyte seemed to have picked up on her anxiety. Looking at the District 5 girl, he appeared to have guessed exactly what she was thinking.

"What are you thinking about?" he asked. "You look worried about something".

"I just..." Gleam said. "We left all of out stuff in that apartment building, and I'm really regretting it. How about you?"

"I agree with you. I don't really think that that was the best idea. Why did we do that, again?"

"It's not your fault!" Gleam said desperately.

"I know that. It's not your fault, either. We were just really, really stupid. You can't just go blaming yourself for that. You'll never get anywhere if you just keep on doing that".

Gleam nodded. Flyte really did have a point. She wanted to kiss those lips, but she didn't know if the District 12 boy would appreciate that. Right now, they were focused on hunting. They wanted to get food in some way, shape, or form.

Suddenly, Flyte caught some movement on the horizon. "It's something brown. It's small, what could that be?"

"The only tribute that could fit that description would be Noelle, that girl from 11. Somehow, I don't think she'd be alone".

"That's 'cause she's part of the Underdog Alliance. Of _course_ she won't be alone".

"So what is it, then?" Gleam asked.

"I think..." Flyte started. He began to choke, although whether it was on a sob or on laughter. "I think it's a Barbaloot bear".

* * *

The sun slowly moved past its zenith. Now, it was probably a little after noon. The day had went by quickly for Dax. It felt like it had only been an hour or two since he had woken up in the mattress made out of the candy-colored Truffula tuft, the one that he had spent the night in. It wasn't the most comfortable bed, but it got the job done. He was glad that no one had attacked him. Luckily, the landscape of the arena was not completely flat. There were some steep hills that were present, especially around the lakes, of which Dax had so far discovered two. He had reason to believe that there might be more, just waiting for him, or someone else.

Not that he really cared, though. Right now, he was simply focused on his own survival. Yes, that was what he would have to do if he would have any chance at avenging Aurora. He had to play for _himself_ , and himself only.

Dax had eaten two of the plum-like fruits at the top of his tree before setting out on the hunt. Whether he was looking for other tributes, or just something to kill for food, he wasn't a hundred percent sure. All he knew was that he needed food besides just these fruits. For all he knew, they were poisonous, and the Gamemakers had made it so that the toxins took a day or more to take effect.

 _In which case,_ Dax realized despondently, _there's nothing I can do. I'm dead either way._

But that wasn't a pleasant view of his situation. Instead, he tried to focus on the things he could control. Right now, he was looking for food. He always had his spear at the ready, just in case he found any squirrels or something to eat.

He wasn't trained at hunting, he knew that much. Even so, he knew that he would probably be able to pick it up eventually, through practice. He would have to, if he was to have a chance at this.

Suddenly, Dax heard some rustling in the branches of one of the tall trees that dotted the landscape. He was in one of the sparsest parts of the woods, halfway up a very steep hill, to the point that it felt almost like a staircase. Of course, Dax had never climbed too many staircases, or hills in general, in District 9, for the simple reason that it was a very flat landscape, and even the Justice Building was only three stories tall.

Even though Dax wasn't used to climbing upward, he adjusted quickly. Soon, he wasn't short of breath. If he had been, though, that might have been just as well. He knew enough about hunting to know that it was best to make as little noise as possible. He needed to sneak up slowly on his prey, or else they would see him approaching. He'd never get to cage the elephant if he went around clomping his boots.

It wasn't that he expected to find an elephant in these woods, although they had been fairly plentiful in the Dr. Seuss books that his parents had read to him and Aurora when they were older. The thing was, he really didn't know what he might find. That was the cool thing about this arena, as much as he hated the Hunger Games. You never knew what was around the corner for you in this arena. It made him a little more enthusiastic about his situation.

Back in the Wheatlands of District 9, everything was boring and predictable, and the flat amber landscape really emphasized that. Now, Dax was astonished by all of the colors around him.

But he wasn't going to let that distract him from killing the bird that he saw fly, practically in front of his face. He managed to react quickly enough to fling his spear at it, piercing the bird's stomach.

The bird's stomach exploded, practically like a piñata. Blood flew everywhere, but there was still quite a lot of meat present. One look at it, and Dax knew that he would be easily fed by this for a number of days, probably longer than these Games would last.

 _Well, that solved my food problem,_ Dax thought. He allowed himself about a minute of self-congratulation before he began lugging it to a new place, where he decided he would set up camp for the second night of the Hunger Games.

* * *

Paolina had found a new hotel room that she would spend the second night in. It was two buildings from where she had stayed the previous night, but she wasn't too worried that this would lead someone onto her. At least, not more than it would have been if she had chosen anywhere else. She hadn't wanted to spend too much time out on the streets.

Paolina searched the fridge for food. She hit the jackpot. In the refrigerator, there was a whole watermelon that had been chilling in there for who knew how long. She looked around for a knife in the drawer, which was easy to find. Then, she went over to the melon and cut a generous slice for herself. She didn't care about a plate. After a day of the Hunger Games, she wasn't too concerned with anything related to hygiene. She only wanted to avoid starving.

Suddenly, she saw something in a window of the building across the street from hers. There was a large male figure, probably five stories above where Paolina was. _Another tribute!_ She tried to find a way to hide in the corner, but she didn't know how she could do that, or barricade the window, without being discovered by a Career. The problem was that she didn't know if she'd be able to cover the window without drawing attention to herself.

Suddenly, she saw two smaller female figured near the taller boy. Yes, it might have been Careers, but she found it highly unlikely. No Career girls were that small. But then, she realized.

There were two younger girls in the Underdog Alliance. If that was the case, than the large boy was _Taysom!_ The leader of the very alliance that was hoping to counter the Careers!

Well, good for them. Paolina considered joining them, but she immediately put that thought out of her head. She would never be able to trust anyone else in an alliance with her, and, of course, there was the problem of what she would do if it ended up that she and the other four members of the alliance ended up as the final five. She was going to cling to her pacifism until her death.

Instead, Paolina decided to hide in the bedroom of the apartment until she was sure that Taysom had left the window. Something told her that the Underdog Alliance would not hesitate to kill if it was absolutely necessary, and Paolina didn't want to be on the receiving end of that.

* * *

As the afternoon wore on, it was looking less and less likely that Flyte and Gleam's hunting expedition would ever amount to anything. Yes, they had managed to get some Truffula fruits from the trees, but that was only from the smaller ones. Gleam, being much smaller than Flyte, was the one who did it every time. That left Flyte, with his club, to defend her against any attackers that might appear, be it tributes or muttations.

This made Flyte feel like he was doing _something._ He'd always been a defender of the kids on the street who couldn't defend themselves. Although Gleam was fairly handy with her axe, Flyte still felt rather protective of her. He guessed that that was the natural male reaction in a budding romance.\

It was on one occasion, however, that things began to go sour. Very, very sour.

Around what might have been three or four in the afternoon, Gleam went climbing up the millionth tree.

He was holding his club in the usual stance, just like a batter at the plate, about to swing, when he heard something behind him. He swung it around, barely missing the tree that Gleam was climbing.

Before he could feel guilty for nearly causing his ally to fall from the sky, he noticed what it was that had caused him to swing his club. It was a carnivorous brown bear. The Barbaloot bear, he remembered, from the Dr. Seuss book. It was gunning for him.

In that moment of blind panic, Flyte made the mistake of not warning Gleam about the muttation below them. Later, he would kick himself for this. He just knew it.

Instead, he made a very costly mistake. He struck the bear with the head of the club.

Immediately, it was as if a cannon had gone off. Brown Barbaloot bears had begun swarming all around them, and Flyte couldn't help but gasp. Twenty feet above him, Gleam let out a squeal of fear. Flyte realized just what he'd just gotten them both into.

He didn't even have time to feel sorry for himself, though, or guilty. All he did was leap onto the trunk of the tree. He wasn't the best climber, but Gleam helped him, giving him pointers on how best to shimmy his way up. And he was making it work. They were getting higher and higher.

The tree they were in, whose bough was scarlet, reached a good forty feet above the forest floor. Gleam immediately made it to the top, while Flyte hopped on over to a tree five feet away, with an indigo tuft. He climbed it hastily.

Luckily, none of the bears had followed them up. They weren't chewing through the trees, either, which was a great relief to Flyte. He knew that there would be no way that he would be able to arrest his fall. He looked down, wondering if there would be a way to escape.

To his horror, the muttations were swarming all around the section of trees that the couple had climbed. They made it clear that they weren't leaving without tasting human flesh. And there was no way around them.

They'd been treed.

* * *

In the meantime, things were going a little better for the Underdog Alliance. They had now gotten settled in their new apartment, and Taysom had managed to stop sneezing, which was a good thing. They didn't want the Careers to get onto them _that_ way. There were four very nice beds, which made him a little suspicious. It was as if the Gamemakers had _known_ that an alliance of four would end up bedding down in there. That would just be too much of a coincidence.

"Who do you think we'll see in the anthem tonight, Taysom?" Karla asked him.

"Well, considering we haven't heard a cannon yet, probably no one" her district partner responded. "That means that the Careers are still large and in charge. That sucks".

"Are we going to try and change that?" Lace asked.

"I don't think we can" Taysom replied. "It'd be pretty risky trying to attack the Cornucopia. That's just not going to work out very well! They've got more than us, and better weapons as well. We're not going to beat them in an all-out battle".

"We could _try"_ Noelle said. "I'd rather go out trying to make some magic happen".

"Well, I wouldn't" Taysom said. "And what I say goes. I'm the leader of this group. Does anyone have any problems with that?"

Lace looked a little contemptuous, but Noelle and Karla both shook their heads. They understood that allowing the District 7 boy, the oldest member of their group, to be the de facto leader was most likely their best chance at victory. And it _did_ seem wise to lie low here and bide their time until something else happened.

Little did they know, the Careers were not in as good shape as they had assumed. As Taysom watched the sun begin to sink behind the candy-colored forests, he was completely unaware of this.

* * *

Garnet had not managed to keep down any water all day, and he was getting worse quickly. Twilight was beginning to worry about him becoming dehydrated due to the vomiting. Even now, he knelt beside the water, trying to quell his nausea by staring directly at the horizon, where the sun was just about to set.

Brett was doing a little better. After throwing up, by Twilight's count, about sixteen times, he was able to lean back and drink some water. He sipped carefully so as not to throw it all up, but it was working. Slowly, the color returned to his face as he rehydrated. In the morning, he'd probably be ready for another day of hunting down outer district tributes.

Sparkle had also started vomiting, and she was unable to hold down any food or drink. It had only been happening for a few hours, but Twilight felt in her gut that there was something going on with that girl, something that she wasn't quite sure of. She seemed to be abnormally worried about the fact that she was sick, which made sense in a way, being that it _was_ the Hunger Games. Even so, there was something that told Twilight that a stomach bug might pose a very real danger to her, more so than to any of the others.

As for Zelda, she had so far gotten off scot-free. She must not have eaten any of the contaminated food. And Glory was getting better. She hadn't thrown up since what might have been two in the afternoon. Once Twilight had reached, well, _twilight,_ she got the feeling that the worst of it was over for Glory Asphodel.

The same could not be said for Garnet, or Sparkle. The latter was deteriorating at an alarming rate, and Twilight knew that she needed medical help. Garnet was likely to be in serious trouble soon as well.

As Twilight watched the death recap during the anthem, she noticed enough of it to register that there had been no deaths today, even despite her ADHD and preoccupation. That was fine with her, because she was thinking of something else that might as well keep the audience occupied.

Her mind drifted back to her mother's clinic. Back at home in District 2, she'd thought of one time when she was ten and had a bad stomach virus, unable to keep down any liquids. Something her mother had done for her. Something that _she_ might be able to do, right now.

It was a crazy idea, to be sure. But she didn't know what else to do. And she wanted to give the Capitol a good show. All she knew was, this would be something that had most likely never happened in the Hunger Games before.

She'd seen the right place near the edge of the city. It was probably only three miles or so away from their current location inside of the Cornucopia, but she knew that any walk might feel to the sick Careers like five hundred miles.

 _Damn it! Now I can't get that song out of my head!_ _'I would walk 500 miles, and I would walk 500 more, just to be that man who walked a thousand miles to fall down at your door!'_

Twilight managed to get that annoyingly catchy song out of her head long enough to get ready to say what she was going to say. This was important, to sound authoritative. She didn't want to worry her "patients".

"Hey, guys" she said. "Sparkle, Garnet. Follow me. I think I know what to do".

* * *

 **RIP nobody.**

 **This is the first time, in any of my Hunger Games stories, that an entire day has gone by without any fatalities. Even in Super Hunger Games Bros., my first fanfiction (a racy crossover between Super Smash Bros. and The Hunger Games, to be read at your own risk) it only lasted seven days, and 9 people died on the first day. I think that SHGB is a good example of what I started as, and a testament to how far I've come in five short months.**

 **In any case, I want to hear some speculation. What do you think Twilight's plan is? Who will die next? And who will ultimately win Lorax: The 64th Hunger Games? I want to see what you think!**

 **Finally, there is a new poll on my profile that pertains to YouTube. I want you guys to tell me who you want me to play as in my next Mario Party board playthrough for my YouTube channel. I don't know if this is the proper place or not, but I'd highly appreciate it if you took the five seconds to vote.**

 **SnowLucario out.**


	17. A Crazy Idea

**Now, it will be revealed! What is Twilight's plan? Some of you thought she had a miracle cure, while some thought that it was going to be a trick to deceive and kill them. Well, now you're going to find out.**

 **In other news, I took that last poll down because a), no one voted, and b), I had to delete that footage. I'm going to start a fresh new series of Mario Party 2 board playthroughs. Hopefully, you guys will enjoy it. It'll be on my YouTube channel.**

 **In any case, let's get this thing going!**

* * *

The moon began to rise over the arena. Twilight was over. And, at this very moment, Twilight was leading two other tributes to another location.

Brett, still recovering, didn't have the strength to try and stop her. Glory seemed to trust that Twilight wasn't just going to kill two other Careers out of nowhere, not when the Underdog Alliance was still intact and had the very real potential to be a force in the Hunger Games. To tell the honest truth, they might have been a little naive.

And Zelda wasn't following the two sick teenagers anywhere. Even if it wasn't contagious, something told Twilight that the District 3 girl was not good around sick people. She was just glad that she didn't have to go.

None of that, however, mattered to the three Careers who were now walking through the night. Sparkle kept leaning over and puking, which definitely showed that she was not in good shape. Garnet, meanwhile, was practically leaning on Twilight, like a drunken man being carried home from the bar. He looked as though he would collapse if Twilight wasn't supporting him. Perhaps this was the right idea after all.

And yet, it was hard to believe that sometimes. Garnet was heavier than Twilight, and although he might have lost a couple pounds in water weight he was not an easy burden to bear by any sense of the word. Twilight felt as though Garnet might just collapse on top of her, causing her to fall down and possibly take Sparkle with her, like a chain of dominoes. That would just make things way worse than they needed to be.

Due to this, they were only making about one mile an hour. Twilight's destination was three miles from the Cornucopia, meaning that it must have been after midnight by the time that they reached it.

A hospital building loomed in front of them. This was where Twilight had wanted to go. She helped Garnet and Sparkle over the step into the waiting room of the emergency department. Sure enough, the time was 12:18 AM, meaning that they had been walking for a little over three hours. She felt bad for putting Sparkle and Garnet through this, but she was driven to be loyal to her fellow Careers (even if Sparkle technically _wasn't_ one), for one simple reason.

She'd seen too many people die in her own mother's clinic to watch these Careers succumb to dehydration from food poisoning. And if there was even a one percent possibility that she could save them, she would do everything she could to turn that one percent into _one hundred_ percent. She owed it to everything she stood for as a person.

She managed to half-guide, half-carry the other two Careers with her into an ER room. As soon as she let go of them, they all went down in a triangle of directions.

Sparkle collapsed onto a bed. Garnet fell, unconscious, onto another, his 6'1" frame hanging in between the two rails on either side. This was a precarious position, so Twilight reoriented the boy so that he was lying feet first, facing the window. She made sure that Sparkle was securely in her bed as well. And then, Twilight focused on the task at hand.

 _So this is it? I sold my soul for this? Washed my hands of that for this? I miss my mom and dad for this?_ she thought, as she went into the supply closet in order to look for what she needed.

On the way, her eyes caught a bright star outside of the window closest to Garnet's bed.

 _No. When I see stars, that's all they are._ Twilight tried to convince herself that she was really happening. She never imagined that she'd be playing Nurse in the Hunger Games. But that was the hand that she had been dealt.

She found what she was looking for. Two bags of saline, complete with pole. Perfect. She'd never done this before, but she had seen her mother do it a thousand times. To people with heat stroke, to other patients, and to herself at one point.

Twilight thought back to when she was ten. A very severe stomach virus had spread throughout the Career academy that she trained at. Despite her best precautions, Twilight had gotten sick. For nearly a day, she had been unable to keep down water. At four in the morning, she'd woken up again, throwing up bile due to no longer having anything in her stomach. She couldn't make it stop.

The sound of her heaving had woken her mother, who had gone into Twilight's bathroom, the door of which the girl had forgotten to lock. Her mother, of course, was worried about Twilight becoming dehydrated.

The clinic was open 24/7, but Mrs. Shinier worked the day shift, so she typically wasn't there at such an ungodly hour. She'd taken Twilight into a room and stuck a needle into her arm. Twilight's mother had then hung a bag from a pole, and Twilight had felt better within a matter of minutes.

Twilight tried to hang on to that memory right now, because she needed to remember exactly what her mother had done. It was important to get this right, because Garnet's and Sparkle's lives might hang in the balance, and Twilight was sick of seeing people die. She also found a needle of the correct size, medical tape, a tourniquet, and bandages. She had everything she needed, which made her laugh quietly in relief.

She made sure that she had everything in the correct setup. The bag was full of the correct saline solution. Twilight had wondered, when she was little, why they used salt water for intravenous fluids, because that seemed counterintuitive. But her mother, at that moment in her childhood, had explained that it was an isotonic solution, fairly close to the amount of salt in a person's bloodstream.

Even then, her mother might have been trying to prepare her for a career as a nurse. She hadn't wanted to lose her daughter to the Hunger Games. This thought made her feel like crying, but it was important that she stayed strong, or else she wouldn't remember how to start an IV. That was essential.

Now came the time. The time for triage, the process by which you selected the order in which to treat patients based on their perceived severity.

Looking at Garnet, who was still unconscious, as opposed to Sparkle, who appeared fairly awake if not quite alert, she decided to hook Garnet up first. She approached him quietly, not wanting to wake him. He was like a sleeping dragon who you didn't want to wake. Maybe it would recognize you as a friend. But if Garnet was _too_ dehydrated, he might not recognize Twilight as an ally. He might attack her.

That thought scared Twilight more than she liked to admit, but she went on with it anyway. She held the needle half an inch above the older boy's left arm. She'd noticed that Garnet was right-handed, so if this caused any problems for his left arm, he wouldn't be affected too badly.

She searched for a prominent vein, finding one in his left wrist that was clearly visible. She disinfected the site and pricked his skin with a needle, trying to get it in.

Garnet's eyes fluttered open. He looked as though he thought that he was being cut into with a narrow dagger. Which, of course, _was_ probably what he thought. Being in the Career pack was accepting the fact that you might get turned on at any moment. And Garnet was probably the strongest Career. Not today, of course; today, he was just a severely dehydrated eighteen-year-old. He looked around the room, paranoid. Then, his eyes caught on the flowing blond hair, as well as the needle in his left wrist.

"Wha..." he groaned. Twilight figured that he meant to say, "What are you doing?" However, it became clear that he understood that the girl was trying to help him. Then, he sank back into either sleep or unconsciousness, she didn't know which one.

But Twilight wasn't done yet. The first attempt had failed. Apparently, Garnet was even more dehydrated than she had thought. This would take a while.

Luckily, only three tries were necessary before she got the vein. She put the plastic tubing into his wrist and taped it in. She hung the bag from the pole, and then the solution began dripping into Garnet's veins. She'd done it.

She then went on over to Sparkle, who by now had also passed out. She did the same thing for her, which was a lot easier the second time around. This was for two reasons, both because Sparkle wasn't quite as bad off as Garnet and that she now knew that she could do it.

When the job was done, Twilight went on over to the bed to Garnet's right. She felt guilty for going against her mother's wishes, for throwing her life away for the Hunger Games. But she'd had to. She wanted to live a luxurious life in the Victor's Village of District 2. And she could see herself becoming very good friends with Margaret Malachi, Panem's previous victor. That is, assuming the older girl was okay with it.

 _I'm sorry, Mom_ , she thought.

Then, she put her head back on the pillow and fell asleep.

* * *

"I can't sleep, Gleam" Flyte said in the middle of the night.

It had been about four hours since the anthem, and yet the Barbaloot bears were still crowding around the base of their tree. They weren't leaving, and so the tributes would have to figure out a way to escape. They'd die of starvation or dehydration if they didn't come down eventually.

"Why not, Flyte?" Gleam said, having just been awoken by the sound of her ally's voice. "Is it because of...oh".

The bears were still getting ready to tear the tributes into pieces if they came down for even a second. This was, of course, not what Flyte and Gleam wanted to happen. And so, they had to continue waiting. Maybe, eventually, they would go away.

"Let's try to come up with some sort of plan" Flyte said. "I mean, we've got to get out of here eventually. We'll die here if we don't, but if we come down the way things are...".

"You don't have to finish that sentence" Gleam said. "I know what'll happen. We're going to be dead, and we most certainly do not want that. We're going to have to find some way!"

" _Shhhhh!_ " Flyte said. "We've got to be quiet, because I don't know if the bears can tell what we're saying. And, for all we know, the Careers could be hunting for us _right now!"_

"They wouldn't" Gleam said. "Taysom's alliance is twice as big as ours. Aren't they the primary targets of the Careers?".

"But they wouldn't hesitate to kill us if they are given the opportunity" Flyte responded coolly.

"Use your brain, Flyte! Are the Careers really going to be anywhere in the general area of the Barbaloot swarm?"

"I guess not" Flyte said. He tried to get to sleep, but it was almost impossible when you were lying precariously in the tuft of a Truffula tree, forty feet above carnivorous bear cubs who would kill you if you fell.

"Flyte" Gleam said half an hour later, by which time Flyte had assumed that she must have gone back to sleep.

"Yes?" Flyte said cautiously, remembering her recent outburst.

"I really do like you. I'm sorry for what I said earlier".

"It's no problem" Flyte said. "Now, if you don't mind, I'm going to try to get back to sleep".

"Okay" Gleam said.

Within fifteen minutes, they had both gotten to sleep, with visions of escape dancing in their heads.

* * *

The three Careers left at the Cornucopia couldn't sleep. They were preoccupied with the thought of where Twilight might have taken Sparkle and Garnet.

"Do you think she's killing them?" Glory asked.

"Hard to believe it" Brett responded. "I mean, if she did, then the cannons would fire, and since people are probably trying to sleep right now, we'd know what happened if there were two cannons. Then, she'd have three angry former allies all on her tail. There's just no way".

"I don't know" Glory said. "We're not in the best shape ourselves. She never even got sick. She'd definitely have the upper hand in a fight for sure".

"Are you guys _already_ thinking of disbanding?" Zelda asked, having been stirred out of her meditation by the edge of the lake.

"No" Brett said. "Relax".

Then, the District 2 boy turned to the District 1 girl. "You do realize that we just got food poisoning from the food that was in our packs. That means that we can't trust _anything_ in there. Let's just dispose of it".

When Glory looked as though she was about to protest, Brett began to speak in a far more dangerous tone. "Do you seriously still trust the Capitol so much? Even after _that_?"

"Yes, I do" Glory said.

"Why?"

"Because..." she began. This story was pretty personal. However, just as with Garnet, she worried that the District 2 boy would cease to trust her if she didn't tell him. And trust was still important at this stage, so she decided that she should tell him the truth.

"When I was ten, my parents killed my brother. They really weren't nice to us at all, ever. The Peacekeepers caught them, put them in prison, and they put me in the community home of District 1. They really treated me well there, it's a much nicer place than I imagine the orphanages in the other districts are".

"The one in District 3 is _horrible_ " Zelda said.

"Wow" Brett said. "I'm sorry about that. Is that why you love and admire the Capitol so much? Because they're so good to you?"

"Yes" Glory said. "That's why I trust them so much. And still do, even in spite of everything. The food must have just gone bad on its own".

"Glory, you do realize that they must have made the food bad on purpose. That doesn't just happen in the Hunger Games. It must have been the Capitol's doing. And yet you still have such faith in them?"

"I guess..." Glory said.

"So that's how you ended up here" Brett said. "You wanted to give back to the Capitol for giving you so much".

"Yeah" Glory said. "Why did _you_ volunteer for the Hunger Games?"

She didn't know what she was expecting. Most Career tributes went into the Hunger Games because they wanted to bring glory to their district, as well as to themselves. They wanted to live in a luxurious home in the Victor's Village of their district.

Instead, Brett gave her a different story that she couldn't help but choke up just a little at. Of course, she didn't show it on the outside. She wanted to appear as calm and stolid as always, so as not to give away any emotions that could be used against her.

"So...there's a girl back in District 2. Her name's Estonia Jenkins. I wanted to marry her, but she's upper class and my family is a lot less wealthy. Her father wouldn't let me marry her...".

"...unless you won the Hunger Games" Glory finished. "Yeah, that might have happened a few times. I wouldn't know too much, because I haven't watched too many older Hunger Games. So...get back to the story".

"Well, you pretty much finished it for me. I started training for the Games. This happened a year ago, by the way, so I'm a little bit under-prepared as compared to a lot of you guys. It's not like I'd been planning for it my whole childhood".

"Wow, Brett...I'm sorry about that. I can't believe that Mr. Jenkins is such a jerk".

"I know" Brett said. Determination shown in his eyes, looking at the full moon that had risen over the forested arena. In that moment, Glory worried that he was about to turn on her and Zelda.

But then, he stood down. "Zelda" he said. "Do you want to talk about what it's like in District 3?"

"Sure" Zelda said. "I'm from a fairly upper class family, because my dad's a video game developer. He works for Nintendo Of Panem".

"Seriously?" Glory asked incredulously. Most people in districts outside of the Career districts, except for the Capitol, did not have access to video games, simply because they couldn't afford it. Panem was not a wealthy nation, for the most part.

"Yeah" Zelda said. "Since my dad works for the company, he sometimes brings home games for us to play-test before he releases them to the general public. I've got two sisters, one older and one younger. What're your favorite video games, guys?"

"I don't even _play_ video games" Glory said in a very exasperated tone. "They didn't have those at the community home, and if Brett is really from the lower class part of District 2, he most likely has never played any either".

"You'd be correct" Brett said. "Really, Zelda, let's stop talking about this. We need our sleep. Let's hope that Twilight's taking good care of the others".

Glory and Zelda both looked at each other as Brett climbed into his sleeping bag. Within minutes, his breathing became deeper and slower, indicating that he had fallen asleep.

"Good night, Zelda" Glory said.

"Good night, Glory" Zelda replied, settling down in her own sleeping bag.

* * *

 **This was pretty short, but I figured that this was the best place to end the chapter, simply because not much is going to happen until the following morning, and then I'd just be dragging things out unnecessarily.**

 **I hope you check out my videos as well. I don't know how much longer Lorax is going to be, but I'm going to try to be done by Christmas.**

 **SnowLucario out.**


	18. Flight

**I was tempted to title the last chapter, "The IV League", because I thought that you guys would appreciate the pun. However, I feel that that would have given away what happened in the chapter, and it was TOO cheesy for a title.**

 **While this chapter is only 25-30% longer than the last one (a little over 4,000 words), a lot happens here. I really hope you read it to the end and review.**

* * *

It was getting towards the early morning now. Dax was resting in the hills, having just shot down a large bird that he would be able to eat. Paolina was hiding in an apartment across from the one that the Underdog Alliance was staying at. Preston was on his own in a theater. Flyte and Gleam were treed by a swarm of Barbaloot bears, and the Career pack was split in two. Glory, Zelda, and Brett were sleeping at the Cornucopia, while Twilight was sleeping lightly in a hospital room with Garnet and Sparkle.

If the lines got tangled, then that would cause trouble. Because of this, Twilight had made sure to have her ears on the lookout for signs of trouble. That was something that she had discovered that she could do, ever since her mother had surgically enhanced her sense of hearing. Using this, she had been able to fall into a light sleep, while being conscious enough to be awoken by a beeping sound, or if she sensed that something might be wrong with one of the patients.

Twilight woke up at three in the morning. At first, she was worried, because it was still dark outside, and the fact that she had woken up had to mean that there was something wrong with Garnet and/or Sparkle. She looked around, trying to see if it was the case.

The hospital, of course, had digital clocks available. It seemed to be functioning perfectly normally, which was good. At the same time, it might lead someone onto their path if they noticed lights in the building. Of course, only the Underdog Alliance had the strength in numbers to even _consider_ it. But Twilight couldn't help but feel a little anxious about that.

Twilight now began to think about another thing. How long should she keep them hooked up? She'd changed the bags every so often when they ran low, which caused her to wake up. That was why she'd been worried when she woke up this early, because the bags of saline wouldn't have run out so quickly, would they?

In any case, how long? She tried to remember when her mothebr had done the same to her. It had been maybe two or three hours that she'd been on the IV back in District 2, seven years and seven hours by hovercraft away from here. If so, it was probably time to take them off soon. But she didn't know how dehydrated they had been.

She took a look at Garnet. He was still out cold, although some color had returned to his face. He definitely looked a lot better than he had a few hours ago. Twilight's plan had worked.

Then, she looked at Sparkle. The girl was very, very still in her bed, although she appeared to still be breathing. That was a relief. She wanted to make sure that Sparkle _could_ be woken up. That would help settle her mind, make her feel more like she had done something good.

Twilight decided to tap the younger girl on the shoulder. Nothing. Had she imagined her breathing? If so, did that mean what she thought it meant...but there had been no cannon...what would she be able to do?

The District 2 girl resorted to slapping the District 4 girl across the face. Twilight didn't want to do it, but she felt that she wanted to do everything she could to wake Sparkle up, just to make sure that she was all right.

It didn't work. Sparkle remained unconscious, not even waking up when aroused by pain.

Twilight decided that the younger girl would wake up when she was ready, and she mustn't rush it. She was about to head back to her own bed when she heard the sound of someone sitting up. It was Garnet, who had evidently been woken up by Twilight's slapping. Contrary to many movies and TV shows, he did not attempt to pull the IV out of his wrist, for which Twilight was very grateful.

"What happened?" Garnet asked. His voice was a little more clear, but still fairly weak.

"I can't wake Sparkle up" Twilight said. "She's very, _very_ deeply asleep, and I don't know what to do".

"Oh no" Garnet said. "This is bad. Very bad".

"What are you talking about?" Twilight asked nervously.

"Look. I need my sleep. Thanks for giving me IV fluids. You practically brought me back from the dead there. I'll tell you in the morning. I think you need sleep, too. After all, haven't you been up all night?"

"No, I-" Twilight said. "Sleep well, Garnet".

"You too" Garnet said, closing his eyes. The District 1 boy soon had fallen asleep. Twilight wondered, though; what was Garnet going to tell her in the morning?

* * *

Dawn of the third day.

Not long ago, all twenty-four tributes had still been alive. Now, that number had gone down to fifteen.

Gleam woke up in her tree, wondering why she was so worried. It was such a beautiful day, as was the whole area around her. Brilliantly colored trees dotted large hills, with a lake in the distance.

Then, she remembered where they currently were. She and Flyte, her ally and love interest, were trapped in their trees, forty feet above the ground. If they didn't come down soon, they might die of starvation or dehydration, unless the bears started to climb, in which case their death might be quick, but it would also be very, very painful. She didn't want that to happen, and so she would have to come down soon.

Flyte was still sleeping, five feet away from her, up in his own tree. She decided not to wake him up just yet. After all, they had more time than that. The better rested Flyte was, the more easily they would be able to come up with a plan to get away from the swarm of Barbaloot bears that were crowding around on the ground.

Suddenly, a cannon rang out. She was startled by it, not expecting any deaths to occur so early in the day. Of course, though, anything could happen in the Hunger Games, and, for all she knew, the Careers could be out hunting right at this very moment. She and Flyte were most likely safe from the other tributes, who would most likely not go anywhere the swarm of carnivorous bear cubs.

That was their last priority. For now, all they had to do was figure out a way to safety. Then, they'd probably head into the city, even though most of the tributes were probably in there right now. She could only hope that they could survive that long...

* * *

Paolina was aroused by the cannon, still in the bed in her apartment. She was once again grateful that she even had a bed to sleep in. Last year's arena had been so complicated and unpredictable that you never knew what would be around the next turn. This time, she knew the lay of the land, at least to a certain degree.

There had been fifteen tributes left as of last night. If Paolina had reason to trust her math skills to even a tiny degree, that meant that there were fourteen people left. If it wasn't a Career who had died- and all signs pointed to it most likely being Dax or Preston, then there were still six members in that pack, and then four in the Underdog Alliance. There really weren't that many loners in this arena.

Of course, that didn't mean that she was going to join up with Dax, even if she did manage to find him. That just wouldn't happen. She would not be able to find it within herself to _trust_ another tribute to that large degree. In other words, no alliances for her. She was not going to get killed in her sleep, and the probabilities of that probably increased with each death that occurred in the arena.

Eventually, Paolina decided to search the fridge of her apartment for something to have for breakfast. Even though it couldn't be any later than six in the morning, she knew that there would be no way in the world that she would be able to get back to sleep, not after hearing that cannon. She'd been wondering if the killer was anywhere near her, and if so, she was in big trouble.

She didn't care if anyone sponsored her or not, at this point. She wasn't sick or wounded, and she had plenty of food the way things currently stood. She really had little or no reason to be worried at all. That is, unless an enemy tribute came calling.

* * *

Twilight had been aroused from her light sleep by the sound of a cannon. She jumped up, wondering if it had been Garnet or Sparkle who had been killed by one of the loners, or someone from the rival Underdog Alliance. She didn't know if she wanted to know. But she forced herself to look around, anyway.

Garnet had stirred slightly at the sound, but Sparkle did not wake up at all. Twilight wondered why this was, that Sparkle was unable to be woken up. Just like with who had died, she sensed that this was something that she did not want to know.

"Are you awake, Garnet?" the District 2 girl asked.

"Yeah" Garnet said. "I feel like a million bucks, too. Thanks for everything you did. You really did save my life here".

"It was no problem" Twilight said. "But...did you hear that cannon? Who do you think died?"

Garnet's eyes turned sad. "I'm sorry to say that I think I know the answer. Twilight..." he said, in a tone that a doctor might say when notifying the loved ones of a terminally ill patient.

Twilight felt a very powerful feeling of dread take over her. "What do you think happened? Who do you think died?"

"Twilight, Sparkle has type 1 diabetes. Or, rather, _had_ ".

Slowly, the truth sank into Twilight's brain. It seemed that Sparkle, as a type 1 diabetic, became hypoglycemic as a result of throwing up too much and becoming dehydrated. The saline solution, while it had rehydrated her, had also lowered her blood sugar. She would have died at some point, but what Twilight had done might have only accelerated her demise. And she felt so bad about that. If she had only thought this through more...

"She never told me that" Twilight said, trying not to tear up. "How do you know?"

"Memphis, her district partner..."

" _Please_ don't mention Memphis" Twilight said. "I still can't believe that he died in the Bloodbath!"

"Whatever. Anyway, Memphis told me that Sparkle had told him about her condition. That all but doomed her in most Hunger Games scenarios. Luckily, this was an arena in which we might be able to find lots of food. But it seems that...you might have inadvertently killed her. I'm not blaming you for it, though. You didn't know".

"It's my fault, not yours" Twilight said.

"No, it's my fault. I should have told you. Memphis already told me that she'd told him not to tell anyone else, so that's the thing. But, anyway, when are we going?" Garnet asked.

"I guess whenever you're ready" Twilight said. "We should probably go back to the others before they'd go out hunting for the day. Do you think you feel up to it?"

"I am. Like I said, I feel _way_ better than I did yesterday, and I have you to thank for that".

"Let's get going. Are you up for a three-mile walk?"

"Yeah" Garnet said. "Last night was hell, though. I barely remember it, it hurt so bad".

"Well, hopefully you'll be able to get ready to leave now. Then, we'll go to the Cornucopia. If we meet up with the others, then we'll go hunting. If we don't, though, then we will wait until they come back. No buts. You're still recovering".

"Okay" Garnet sighed, clearly reluctant to sit back like an invalid while there were still tributes to be hunted. Maybe he wouldn't have to, though.

Twilight took out his IV and lead him outside of the hospital building. Then, they began the three-mile trek back to the Cornucopia.

* * *

Preston's joints ached. It wasn't from running around, though. He'd done very little running in the last two days, except when he was running away from the Cornucopia. While he had considered going out hunting the previous day, he had decided against it. He might be running away from his best source of food and drink if he did that, and there was no way that Preston Wagner was going to allow himself to make such a grave error.

Suddenly, he heard a squeaking noise. Getting the feeling that he knew what it was going to be, he turned in the direction of the sound.

A mouse approximately eleven inches from end to end was on the stage of the theater, being prepared to pounce at Preston. The boy was about to turn to run, when he realized that that wouldn't work. Reason being, he was completely surrounded. There must have been five or six dozen of those little things all over the theater, covering on Preston's location.

Preston didn't want to leave his little man cave here. However, he didn't see any other alternative. In fact, he might not be able to get out of _here._ This things certainly seemed to be fast, if the fact that he hadn't noticed until they were literally surrounding him was any indication. He needed to run as fast as he could if he was going to be able to get out of this one.

He immediately leapt to his feet and began bolting for the exit. Soon, the rats were on him. He tried to pick up more speed, but they always seemed to be nipping at his heels. Try as he might, he could never get too much of a buffer on them. They'd always be within inches, if not centimeters.

Eventually, he made his way out of the cinema and out into open sky. He was arrested by the daylight, even though there wasn't that much of it, since this city was so polluted. He chose a direction at random and began sprinting down the left fork in the road.

He continued to hear the squeaking behind him, which was very bad news. Not only might he be caught and killed by these mice, which seemed to be very much carnivorous, but the sound would alert anyone who was listening to his presence. That was bad, something he definitely needed to avoid. He took another turn at random, but the mice still followed.

Finally, Preston made his way inside an apartment building and held the door as hard as he could. Luckily, no mice came through the cracks. He was safe from them here. He decided to move a table in front of it as a barricade. That would probably leave _them_ , by which he meant anything that might try to kill him, out of his way.

At first, he didn't realize why the Gamemakers seemed to be targeting him. But then, he realized something. He wasn't interesting to the viewers right now. Not without engaging other tributes in combat or forming an alliance. They were putting him in life-threatening situations so that the Capitol audience might enjoy watching him again.

This thought made Preston hate the Capitol, and the Hunger Games, even more. Everyone in Panem, including all of the children selected to compete in this nationally televised fight to the death, had _one life._ And the Capitol was just throwing them all away. And it wasn't just a mass execution. That would be bad enough, because then it might be held in secret, not shown on TV for all of the masses to see and enjoy. No, this was on the next level.

Those thoughts were almost enough to push Preston over the edge. However, he had enough sense left to stand down. He wasn't going to rebel against the Capitol, not even safely inside the arena. Of course, no part of this arena was safe. But he didn't want harm to come to him or his family.

And so Preston searched the refrigerator for a suitable breakfast. The whole time, he kept an eye on the door, making sure that those stupid rats didn't come back for more.

* * *

Tensions between members of the Underdog Alliance had been increasing. Lace had been perceived as being increasingly rude towards the others, especially acting snobbish, like she was better than everyone else. While she might have thought that this was the case, it certainly didn't make it true.

When the four-member alliance had woken up that morning, they had settled into their usual breakfast. However, there was always a certain level of tension in the air. It was easy to tell that if you were an outsider, and on the inside it was even more clear.

"So..." Taysom said. He was leading the normal morning summit for the alliance, when they would decide what their plans would be for that day. Whether they went hunting or not, they would always make sure to leave and find a different place to stay. If the location of the alliance remained unpredictable, then that would make it harder for the Careers to track to location of the Underdog Alliance. Taysom didn't want that battle to come soon, or ever.

"What were you going to say? Finish that sentence, please, and stop your blubbering" Lace said.

The others looked at her, open-mouthed. None of them liked Lace all that much, but they all stayed together out of a certain loyalty to Taysom, as well as to each other. Above all else, however, this moment served to remind everybody that there was only one victor, and there was nothing preventing Lace from leaving right now. All of this over one slow start to a sentence!

"I was going to ask you guys where you wanted to go today. We should change locations every day, like we did yesterday. How about today?" he asked.

"Let's go outside and see what works best for us" Noelle said. "Somewhere close by" she added. Noelle didn't like the idea of spending more time out in the disgusting streets than she absolutely had to.

"I agree, then" said Karla. "I definitely want to relocate, make it harder to track our location. Lace?"

Lace didn't answer. Instead, she simply grunted and crossed her arms. The other three seemed to take this to mean that she was agreeing with them. In reality, however, Lace wasn't agreeing. She was only _pretending_ to. This was so that she wouldn't be forced to admit that she didn't want to relocate. In fact, she didn't want to be a part of this alliance any longer.

Lace knew how the Hunger Games worked. There was only one victor, and if you wanted to be that person, the best course of action was to stay on your own. An alliance was really more trouble than it was worth, and so it was something to be avoided at all costs. She knew that she didn't want to end up with the unpleasant task of killing the other three in order to get back to District 8. As much as she disliked the others, she didn't hate them _that_ much. She'd be willing to leave without killing anybody. After all, if she killed one of them in their sleep, while she was on watch, the cannons would go off and she would be discovered immediately. And, probably, she would die very soon after that.

She didn't want to wait until tonight, though. As the alliance walked out of the door of their apartment building, she made sure to stay at the very back of their single-file line. She turned around when nobody was looking. Making as little noise as possible, she ran in the opposite direction, trying to put as much distance between her and her now-former alliance as possible.

It took a couple of minutes before anyone noticed anything. Lace had been that quiet about her leaving. It was only once Taysom looked back for a head count that he saw.

"Lace isn't here" he announced.

Karla and Noelle exchanged worried glances, not wanting to be without their ally. Taysom looked ahead, determined that they would either find her or find a way to keep on going without the District 8 girl.

No matter what, they would not give up on the alliance. They all swore that, inwardly, to themselves.

Already a quarter of a mile away, Lace smiled, trying not to laugh for fear that the Careers, or anyone else who might happen to be in the general vicinity, might hear it.

* * *

It was by now nine in the morning, and the Careers were enjoying a late breakfast. Indeed, since two of them were just now getting over their illness, they were having a late start to the day in general. Brett's bones ached, but he knew that the best way to get his head back in the game was to try to ignore the pain. Glory was feeling a lot better.

It wasn't just that they had been sick, however. They hoped that Garnet, Sparkle, and Twilight would return to the Cornucopia soon. Otherwise, they were in a lot of trouble as an alliance. If their numbers had gone from six to three, how much longer could it continue before they would disband entirely? Or, if they didn't disband, might the alliance be even stronger as a result?

They were about to find out, it appeared. Two shapes appeared out of the woods, just half a mile away. They didn't seem in too great of a hurry to get there, but it was clear that it was a boy and a girl. The closer they came, the clearer it became that the boy was Garnet.

And he was walking on his own. He appeared to be fully functional, unlike the previous night. Even if he did look a little tired, it was a great relief to see him there. In everything that had been going on over the last day, something good had come out of it. Garnet was well again.

Twilight was with him, keeping a distance of about ten feet between them, as if she was afraid of catching the stomach bug from him, even though they had already figured out that it wasn't anything contagious. Just from the food.

Twilight and Garnet reached the lake. The two Careers moved at different speeds across the water, Garnet more slowly. He was certainly paler and thinner than he had been at the beginning of the Games, but one thing was clear; it wasn't over yet. He was even smiling a little as he climbed onto the central island without assistance.

"What happened? I'm glad to see you back!" Brett exclaimed, wrapping the District 1 boy in a bear hug. Glory and Twilight looked at each other as if to say, _Boys._ However, it was very clear to see that they were very happy to see the two male members of the Career alliance reunited with one another.

"Twilight took me to a hospital that she had noticed while searching the city on day one" Garnet said. "She gave me IV fluids, and I'm feeling a lot better today. I think I'm up for a little hunting!"

"Don't sound _too_ happy, Garnet" Twilight said a little chidingly. "After all, there is bad news as well".

"What is that?" Glory asked.

"Sparkle's dead".


	19. Cubs, Carcasses, and Carnage

**This chapter is going to be longer than the previous one. I hope that it's to your liking. This will cover the rest of the third day, and the obituaries will be at the end.**

 **First, though, a quick recap of where everybody is.**

 **-The Careers are back at the Cornucopia, recovering from their stomach bug**

 **-Taysom, Karla, and Noelle are walking through the city, looking for a new apartment**

 **-Preston is on the run**

 **-Paolina is hiding in an apartment**

 **-Lace is running away from her alliance**

 **-Dax is in the woods, with lots of food**

 **-Flyte and Gleam are probably dead**

 **With that, let's get on to the story! And, in case you're wondering, the last chapter's title was NOT a pun.**

 **In other news, I have the Western Land board playthrough of Mario Party 2 on my YouTube channel, so feel free to check it out. In that one, I played as Luigi. It was filmed in my exercise room on Friday night.**

* * *

Dax had managed to shoot down the bird. However, even though it had fed him well last night, he knew that he couldn't stay here forever. There was no way that in the next week or so, however long these Hunger Games might end up going on for, he would be able to finish it off. This bird must have weighed more than he did, which brought up the question of how it managed to stay aloft.

On top of that, the carcass was beginning to smell bad, and that would be an embarrassing way to get discovered. That wasn't something that he wanted, and so he knew that he needed to leave his current location. Maybe he should go into the city. He might be able to find some food there, but it also increased the risk of running into another tribute, or worse, dying in a similar way to his sister.

That thought made Dax's breath catch in his throat. He didn't want to die on day 3. He'd gotten this far, and he was determined to stick it out all the way to the end, or at least as close to the end as possible. He needed to make it back home. He knew that his parents wouldn't be able to stand losing _two_ children.

However, he knew that he wanted to get as far away from the rotting carcass as he could. And so, around what must have been around ten in the morning, he had turned around and set his eyes on the city, which was probably where most of the other tributes were. After all, the sooner the other tributes died, the less time he would have to survive in order to win.

Of course, that wasn't his main motivation for heading into the smoggy metropolis. He hoped that maybe, somehow, he might find a relatively safe place with good food supplies, like an apartment or a restaurant. It was a large area to cover, and there were only thirteen other tributes left, so he was unlikely to be found there. He could be safe, or as close to safe as it was possible to be in the Hunger Games.

Dax didn't want to hesitate. He ran in the direction of the city, locating a bridge across a disgustingly polluted river the color of root beer. After an hour, he finally got to the bridge and crossed into the city. Looking for an apartment building, he found one that was twenty stories tall. He walked into the lobby. There was no elevator, but he was okay with that, even after all that jogging.

He walked up eight flights of stairs, electing to stay on the ninth floor. One of the doors was ajar, so he snuck inside as quietly as possible and put a chair in front of the door. Then, he searched the fridge for lunch, because it was getting close to time for that.

 _I just might pull this thing out,_ he thought.

Of course, he couldn't count his chickens before they were hatched. He'd heard the cannon some hours ago, and he couldn't count on it not being a Career who had committed the kill, or if they were close by. He had to be careful.

* * *

Flyte and Gleam decided to eat lunch before carrying out their plan. They'd been discussing it all morning, and they decided to have one last meal to give them a little more strength before they would attempt their idea.

It was a risk, but so was staying up there. Indeed, staying up there was probably an even _bigger_ risk than leaving, because then they might die of starvation or dehydration, which they very obviously didn't want.

The plan was this: Flyte would douse his club in the juice of the Truffula fruits, which the Barbaloot bears loved. In fact, now that they thought about it, they might just throw the fruits in one direction. The bears would be attracted to it like the south side of a magnet to the north side of one. That would give the tributes a chance to escape.

It wasn't a perfect plan, but it was the best that they had. If they put the plan off, it would only become harder and harder to take the necessary step. They needed to take that leap of faith. It was better to die while trying something crazy and hoping that it worked, as opposed to waiting for the forces of nature to take them.

Now, the time had come. Flyte was going to slide down the tree to a distance about twenty feet above the ground, and he would fling the fruit as far away as possible. That might get the bears off of their path for just enough time for both of them to escape.

Flyte, like a firefighter who had just received an urgent call from a local residence, slid down the tree as if it was a fireman's pole. Using his strong arms, he managed to catch himself about fifteen feet above the ground, five feet below where he had been planning. He decided to throw it underhanded rather than overhanded, so that it would go higher into the air. This would keep the bears' attention on it longer than it would have if he threw it overhanded. So, that was what he did.

The berries flew forty feet in the air, reaching the same height as the trees that he and Gleam had been in. It was a good thing that they didn't hit the District 5 girl in the head.

When they hit the ground, that caused the bears to go right for them. This gave them the chance they needed!

Flyte was first to the ground. He hadn't realized that Gleam was still at the top of her tree, not going anywhere. She seemed to be too scared.

"Hey, now's time!" Flyte yelled up to her. "You're not going to get anywhere other than in the mouths of those Barbaloot bears by just cowering up there!"

Gleam looked down. The thought of sliding down to the ground, where the bears would most likely tear her apart after they were done fighting for the berries, scared the hell out of her. However, she really didn't have much of an alternative, not unless she wanted to die here. But she couldn't bring herself to follow Flyte down to the ground.

Flyte knew that the bear cubs were about to go after him. He needed to run away, and fast. He had his club at the ready so that he would be able to beat the bears off if he had to, although he wasn't a hundred percent sure that it would work. All he knew was that he was in danger, more danger than he had ever been in the last two days.

And so Flyte did something that he wasn't proud of. He high-tailed it out of there, barely looking back, trusting that Gleam was going to get out of the tree. If she didn't, she would be stupid. A fool. A _dead_ fool.

Unfortunately, Flyte was too trusting in Gleam's bravery. Even after he was two hundred yards away, she remained in the tufts of her tree, looking for some sort of an opening. She couldn't believe that Flyte had just left her like that. Some ally!

She decided that she needed to get down on her own terms, now, to show that she wasn't going to let Flyte be what ended her. Flyte had gone from being the one person she trusted in these Games to the one person that she didn't want to touch with a twenty-foot pole. Abandoning her at such a critical time? That was despicable.

Gleam slid down the pole in the same way that Flyte had. When she reached the ground, unlike the District 12 boy, she was not nearly light enough on her feet. That alerted the bears away from their meal and got them to chase after her.

Gleam was faster than the bears, but more were coming from the direction in which she was running. Soon, she was surrounded by brown bear cubs. Bear cubs that were carnivorous and would clearly not hesitate to kill her in a very brutal and gruesome manner. And, unfortunately, there was no longer anything she could do about it.

That didn't mean that she would give up, though. She swung her axe, but there just seemed to be more of them every time she managed to swat a few away. And they were still coming for her. She felt one bite her right leg, creating a gash three inches wide. The pain was terrible, but she managed to ignore it. She was immune to the pain, and she was going to go out fighting.

Once the bears had gotten onto her stomach, though, that was when she finally gave up the fight. She hoped that James would be proud of her, and that she had given the Capitol a good show. However, she felt nothing but hatred for Flyte and his self-preservation.

Even though she was no longer fighting tooth and claw for her life, that didn't stop the bears from continuing to tear her apart. She couldn't help but scream in pain a couple of times, which she felt sorry for her brother, that he had to witness all of this. Of course, they would be showing her at a moment like this. Although the cameras could not be on all tributes at all times, they would most certainly be showing all of the deaths that occurred, because in the moments that they happened they were the most exciting thing for the Capitol audience.

Finally, the cannon sounded, and then the hovercraft moved in to collect Gleam's body. It was all over for the District 5 girl.

Now nearly a mile away, Flyte now took the time to look back after the cannon had been shot. He didn't know who had died, but if it turned out that it was Gleam, he would never be able to forgive himself as long as he lived, which might not end up being very long. He'd run away without checking to see if she was all right. For that, he had done something that was very wrong.

And now, Flyte was running away, just like he had six years ago, away from his abusive father. He didn't know where he was going to go, now that he didn't have Gleam. Maybe it wasn't Gleam who had died, but it just seemed like too much of a coincidence that there had been a death just minutes after he'd left the scene with all of the Barbaloot bears.

Unless it was Gleam.

* * *

Paolina had managed to make it out of her apartment. She knew that she needed to move around some, or else she might end up being too boring for the people of Panem to watch. Of course, since she hated the Hunger Games in general, she wasn't concerned about providing entertainment for the Capitol. However, she knew that if she didn't provide the citizens of the utopian city that served as the governing body of Panem with enough excitement, then the Gamemakers would provide it for them. And she got the feeling that whatever that ended up being might be very hazardous to her health.

She got past her barricade and then began the long descent down into the city streets. It really was terrible just how awfully polluted this place was. It was a good thing that the residents, if indeed anyone _had_ ever lived here, had been evacuated prior to the start of the 64th Hunger Games.

She ran as quickly as her short legs could carry her, desperate to find a place. And suddenly, a girl appeared in front of her, running at similar speeds in the opposite direction.

The two girls collided, falling to the ground. They stood up, and then Paolina noticed who it was. A girl with long dark brown hair, flowing to the sides, was staring right at her. It was Lace, the girl from District 8. She was taller than Paolina, but the girl from District 9 was a year older. They made no attempt to fight each other, which was almost worse. Paolina just wanted to get the inevitable confrontation over with and move on. She was wasting time here!

Paolina quickly shuffled to the side and ran past Lace. Lace looked stunned, but the older girl had just gotten away. Lace grunted and then continued running in the opposite direction, wanting to put as much distance between her and her former alliance as possible. She wasn't particularly in the mood to kill such a pathetic girl from the breadbasket of Panem.

"All those other tributes" Lace muttered to herself. She was careful not to say it too loudly, because she didn't want to risk any other tributes hearing her, least of all her former alliance or the Careers, which made up the majority of the remaining tributes, anyway.

A quarter mile on the opposite direction, Paolina ran until she was exhausted, which took about another mile. The entire time, she was thinking about the cannon that had just sounded about an hour ago. Combined with the one from this morning, this meant that two people had died on day 3, meaning that there were now only thirteen tributes left. Nearly half of them had died, which made Paolina hate the Hunger Games even more now that they were her reality.

Paolina walked into the lobby and found a room on the fifth floor. That was about as many flights of stairs as she could handle. Then, she selected a room and collapsed onto the bed of that apartment.

Stamina had never been Paolina's strong suit. Which was bad, because that was one thing that was necessary in these Games. But if Paolina didn't have stamina, she had one thing that might be just as, if not more valuable.

She had a will to be a good person. And she'd defend her morals of not killing anybody all the way to the grave.

* * *

The Careers had decided to finally go hunting, despite their late start to the day. Garnet had insisted that he was feeling healthy enough to hunt down some of the wimpy outer district kids, so that was what was happening.

They had swam from their island, through the lake, and back to the shore. Then, they elected to divide up into two groups. Garnet, since he had been the sickest out of those who was still alive, was placed with Twilight, who had nursed him back to health, and Glory, his district partner, who hadn't gotten nearly as ill as he had. Brett was with Zelda, who had never gotten sick at all. Despite his insisting that he was fully recovered, the other Careers thought that it was best that he was in the group of three, and Garnet didn't protest.

Inside, he still felt a little weak despite his outward facade of being very tough and ready for adventure once again. He felt that if he could get his head back in the game, going after the other kids, he'd be able to get that adrenaline coursing through his veins, and recapture the whole reason that he had volunteered in the first place. He hadn't eaten lunch yet, because Twilight was worried that he would have thrown it up, and Garnet understood that. Even so, he knew that he was going to hunt as much as he could.

"I'm glad that there was another cannon earlier" Brett said. "That means we're one step closer to being the victor".

He didn't voice the fact that there could only be one victor. He didn't want the Career pack to disband so soon. There were still a lot of common enemies, including the Underdog Alliance, to take care of. As long as there were still people that everyone in the pack could see as a threat to them winning, that was more incentive to stay together. And Brett really did feel like maybe, just maybe, he could win a straight-up fight against Garnet and the three girls.

"I'm just glad that Garnet's all right" Glory said. "Both District 1 tributes are still in the game!"

"And I intend to keep it that way" Garnet said. His voice was definitely stronger than it had been yesterday.

The groups divided. Garnet, Glory, and Twilight headed into the woods, while Zelda and Brett headed in the direction of the two large factory buildings on the western edge of the city. They figured that, since it seemed like a bad place to see, it was quite possible that other tributes might have seen this side of things and decided to hide there. The Careers sure hoped so, anyway.

Now, Brett was left alone with Zelda once again. The girl was honestly starting to get on his nerves. She wouldn't shut up about her favorite video games, which irritated Brett to no end. Unfortunately, this was just something that he had to deal with if he was going to get back home to Estonia alive.

It was going to be a long walk to the factory. Or at least, it would feel like it. Zelda Pixelford made everything feel much, much longer than it really was.

* * *

Preston had decided to find another place to stay, now that he had been chased out of his theater by the rat muttations. He was pretty sure that they had been engineered by the Gamemakers, simply because they had been so big, and there had been so _many_ of them. No way that could have simply been a naturally occurring phenomenon.

As much as he hated the idea, he had to consider the factor of entertainment for the Capitol citizens, as deplorable as it may have been. He decided that he was going to make his way towards the two factory buildings a little past the exterior part of the city. That was going to be the way to go if he wanted to avoid making the Capitol citizens getting too bored.

No matter what, this was still about Ethan. And Preston would not rest until he had killed, or at least watched projected into the sky, every other tribute in this arena. He owed it to his entire district, of which a significant percentage were underfed. He was going to make those Career tributes rue the day that they had made the decision to volunteer.

Preston thought about the cannon that had sounded a little after noon. He didn't have a watch, but the last JumboTron he had passed, perhaps five or ten minutes ago, had said that it was 3:22 PM. He had survived for 51 hours, which pleased him.

But as for the cannon; who was it? He could only hope that it might have been the Careers, but he had a sinking feeling that there was just no way that he could be so fortunate. It might have been one of the Underdog Alliance, but if one of them had died, either their attacker or the other three would most likely be dead as well. He didn't know if the alliance was likely to disband peacefully or not, but he was hoping the latter. That would make his path to the end of the Games easier for sure.

It might have been one of the loners, like Paolina or Gleam, or even Dax. Poor boy was being sent off to these fucking Hunger Games only a year after his elder sister. Of course, Preston knew that he himself was alive. However, he considered the other three possibilities.

Paolina, he had never really considered too much of a threat. The small girl from District 9 had only gotten a four in training, and she wasn't even capable of killing. As for Gleam, he had never liked his district partner too much, and he didn't know how he would feel about that. As for Dax, he would feel bad for him, but the District 9 _boy_ had gotten an impressive score in training, and would probably be seeking revenge for his sister. That made Dax Baylor one of the more dangerous tributes from the outer districts.

That left Flyte from District 12. Flyte Warsaw was the only tribute, aside from the Careers, Jay, and Noelle (both of whom, he suspected, had been branded threats on purpose by the Gamemakers), and Preston himself, who had scored a nine or higher in training. And Preston had seen him back in the Training Center. He was pretty deadly with a club, and Preston didn't want to end up on the wrong side of it.

Any of those tributes might be dead, but Preston couldn't dwell on precisely which one. He had to focus on himself, and himself only. It seemed as though he was telling himself this a hundred times a day, but it most certainly helped him stay on task. Granted, staying "on task" had pretty much meant simply eating and sleeping for the first two days. Now, though, he was focused on making his way to the factory.

When Preston arrived at the factory building, he saw that there was a digital clock there that read 4:11. He'd been on the move for quite some time, and he desperately needed rest. He needed to get safely inside first, although he didn't know just how _safe_ a factory building could be in the Hunger Games.

After all, though, that was what he was trying to do, so he was going to go inside that factory and hope that the Careers did not discover him. Because, if they did, he sincerely doubted his ability to fight off all five or six of them.

* * *

The Underdog Alliance was reeling from having lost Lace. They had no idea where she had gone, and so this left them free to speculate about it, even if it ultimately did them no good.

"I think that she left to join the Careers" Noelle said.

"I highly doubt that" Taysom said. "She'd have nothing to gain from it. She was stupid to leave us, but it would be even stupider to leave us in order to join up with the Career pack. They'd have tons of questions for her, and they'd probably kill her on sight given that, for all they know, she's still in _our_ alliance".

"I agree with Taysom" Karla said. "It just makes so little sense that she'd just join them like that. Now, relax".

Noelle sat back into her beanbag chair. They had found another apartment to spend the night at, as it was beginning to approach dinnertime. She didn't know how she was going to be able to sleep, not with Lace out on the loose and at large, but she'd have to try. Otherwise, she might never be able to win the Hunger Games.

Maybe Lace had left because she was worried about having to turn on each other. That was understandable, but it was still pretty early for that. Thirteen tributes, nine mutual enemies left. It was just a little hasty in Noelle's eyes.

"It's almost time for the anthem" Karla said. "I wonder who died today. Two people, right?"

"Yeah" Taysom said. "I hope that it was one of the Careers. Or, maybe two of them".

"I'm hoping the same thing, but I don't know how likely that is" Noelle replied, somewhat despondently.

"It's going to work out" Taysom said. "I just know it".

* * *

The hours went on by, and eventually the anthem played late in the evening. The third day was over, and only slightly more than half of the tributes remained.

Garnet, Twilight, and Glory were not with the other Careers right now. After much discussion, they had decided to divide and conquer. Even the Underdog Alliance didn't have nearly the supplies and skills that it would take to bring down the Careers. They could only hope that things were going okay with Brett and Zelda. Hopefully, they would meet up with them tomorrow.

Right now, the three Careers were watching the sky from outside the window of a library.

As Sparkle's picture was shown in the sky, Garnet ran his right hand over the Band-Aid Twilight had put on his left wrist after taking the IV out. He was aware that it could just as easily have been him dead if he had had type 1 diabetes. This thought scared him a little, but he didn't voice it aloud.

The other tribute who had died that day was Gleam from District 5, which pleased the Careers. Having scored an eight in training, Gleam had definitely been considered a threat by the Careers, so it was a good thing that she was gone.

Brett and Zelda were thinking similarly, except that Zelda still felt a little bad that Gleam had had to die. Of course, Zelda had not volunteered for the Games at all, so she was not a true Career, but they'd welcomed her into their pack just the same. That was one thing that she could be grateful for.

As for Preston, he had found his way inside the factory building without a problem, and the death recap was projected onto a holographic screen in front of him. At least the Capitol had made things clear for him.

The Underdog Alliance was surprised to see that Lace was still alive. Instead, Sparkle and Gleam had been the ones to kick the bucket on the third day. They were glad to see both a Career and a girl that, for all of her skill, might as well have _been_ a Career, dead. The fewer threats that they had to face, the better.

Lace was now hiding inside of a clothing store. In fact, it was the same one that her district partner had been in the day before yesterday, but she didn't know that. She was able to view the death recap, and was disappointed to find all three of her former alliance members still alive. She hadn't been too nice to them, and she felt a little bad about that, but that was the game, and the Hunger Games was a reality of life in Panem.

Paolina had escaped her confrontation with Lace and found her way inside of a laundromat. She was annoyed that the District 8 girl was still alive, as was every Career other than Sparkle. But the Games couldn't last forever, right? She also wished Dax would just _die_ already. She wanted to stop feeling guilty for refusing to align with him.

Dax had now reached one of the factory buildings after spending the whole afternoon on foot. He wasn't in the same one as Brett, Preston, and Zelda, fortunately for him. He wouldn't know just how fortunate he was until a little after 5 AM, when a cannon rung out.

* * *

 **RIP Sparkle and Gleam**

 **Sparkle: She was one of my characters, and so she was already doomed from the start. Since I have a cousin with type 1 diabetes, I was able to know these things, and that doomed her even more. I liked writing her death, and I definitely think that it made the story more interesting to have a character with a handicap. To be honest, I'm surprised that a tribute with a training score of 3 would even be allowed to be a part of the Career pack. I did enjoy writing for her, though. She kind of wrote herself, and even though her personality was somewhat bland, I will still miss her.**

 **Gleam: This was another good character. She was kind of a "tough girl", due to her past, killing her abusive father. I knew that she would be one of those outer district tributes who was willing to kill. I didn't plan for a romance with Flyte, except that it just seemed so perfect. I'm sorry that I had to tear them apart so early, but that's just the nature of the Hunger Games. I've also become good friends with her creator, and Peyton is a great person to talk to. She gave me three tributes (Gleam, Lace, and Twilight), and they also had very interesting names as well. I'll definitely enjoy writing her other two characters for the rest of the story. As for Gleam, it's too bad that she had to go out being semi-betrayed by her ally, but that's how things go.**

 **I hope you enjoyed this chapter, which measures in at just over five thousand words. Also, I ended it on a cliffhanger on purpose. Who died? You'll just have to wait and see!**

 **I'm definitely _more_ than halfway done with the story. The chapter count will probably be close to 30, but we'll see.**

 **SnowLucario out.**


	20. Factory Feud

**Happy late Halloween! Through all of your Halloween parties, bobbing for apples, trick-or-treating, or what have you, you've been wondering: Who died on the fourth morning? Well, it is now time for it to be revealed! I hope that this chapter is to your liking. Also, it's been a while since I said this openly, but Lorax has passed 2,300 views. Labyrinth has more than 4,800. Let's see if we can get them up to 5,000 each by a certain point.**

 **This chapter is also pretty short, but there will be some good things happening!**

 **In any case, let's get this thing going!**

* * *

The night had been a relatively sleepless one for Brett and Zelda. All they had been able to think about was what might be waiting for them inside of the factory buildings, which tributes might be hiding in.

While Zelda took the first watch, Brett slept. He had a dream in which a girl who resembled Estonia was standing on a bridge above a District 2 quarry, about to jump. She was inching ever closer to the edge, and Brett just wanted to get her to _stay on that bridge!_ He didn't want to lose his lover.

Only once he woke up did he realize how it pertained to his current situation. He needed to win in order to get the girl, but he realized that it had been _him_ standing on that bridge, with Estonia watching him. When he had volunteered for the Games, he had essentially been jumping off that bridge.

He had thrown his life away on the altar of fame and fortune. And now he was paying the price.

After his watch was over, they decided to eat breakfast early and go into the factory a little after five in the morning. At least, Brett _thought_ it was a little past five. The sky was only now starting to lighten a little. Had they been back in District 2, the sun would have risen earlier and set later due to being at a much higher latitude than this.

But that didn't matter. Zelda and Brett made their way into the front doors of the building, and were almost immediately arrested by the sight that greeted them. Being that this was a _factory,_ though, they should have expected this. It wasn't as though this wasn't par for the course when it came to this area.

The city that was located within the arena was obviously very polluted. Everything within it looked artificial. However, that was _nothing_ when it was compared to the atmosphere inside of the factory.

The stench of textiles being pressed against conveyor belts, along with the sound of it, for that matter, permeated the air. This looked like a place, Zelda thought, that might be expected in a factory back in the slums of District 3. But Zelda's family had been fairly upper class, so she wasn't used to the factory environments. She'd always thought that to be a good thing, but now she wasn't so sure. At least she'd have been more comfortable with that type of terrain.

"Why would anyone be hiding in here?" Zelda asked.

"I don't know!" Brett yelled. The reason he had been forced to yell was due to the fact that the machines were still running the whole time. It would be _impossible_ to locate another tribute within this. Impossible! But then, Brett managed to pick up on a sound that came from a little up a flight of stairs that was hidden behind a door.

"What was that?" Zelda asked. Evidently, she'd heard it too. That made Brett glad that at least they were on the same page with regards to this, even though Zelda was often annoying what with the fact that she talked so much about video games. It was as though she was adapting to her environment, which Brett felt could only be good for their longevity in these Games.

"I think it was another tribute" Brett responded. "Let's go check! It was definitely someone tall. Maybe Flyte or Dax..."

Once the two Careers had bounded up the steps, however, it became clear that the enemy tribute on the stairs was neither of these boys. It was Preston Wagner who was standing in front of them, looking angry but terrified at the same time. He was weaponless.

Now was a very good time for Brett to run through the District 5 boy with his sword. He could feel it, his first kill was inevitable. He was going for the jugular, that determined to score one. The more tributes died, the closer he was to making it home.

However, Preston was expecting it. No sooner had Brett brandished his sword than Preston leapt out of the way. Then, he went running through the door on the opposite side of the room. Zelda and Brett followed him, not going to let Preston slip through their fingers.

The next room was unbelievable, although Preston didn't allow himself to get distracted by it. The Careers, while running down the catwalk, were able to afford a little more attention to the wondrous space that was spread out around them, simply because they weren't as desperate. The Careers were running for the kill. Preston was running for his _life._ They were two very similar words, and yet they held very different meanings when put into practice.

The catwalk that the three tributes were on was a good thirty feet above the factory floor. Silver tanks of something were placed throughout the cavern, and conveyor belts five, ten, fifteen feet above the ground carried shirts in all colors of the rainbow into various vats. It reminded Zelda of a book she'd read when she was younger. In India, one of the great world powers now that the United States was no more, people had done their laundry outdoors, dying the clothes in vats much like these. This was of course no longer the case now that that country had gotten out of poverty.

It was now looking as though Preston might be about to get away, but the Careers did still have something on their side. Both of them had weapons, while Preston was unarmed. He posed no threat at all to the Careers, while they were going straight for him. As the three tributes ran down the catwalk, which eventually turned into a maze of them, it became clear to Preston that he had to find a way to get far enough ahead of them so that he would be able to turn a corner and not have the Careers notice him.

It did seem possible, though. After all, Preston was a little bit faster than Brett and Zelda, so he might be able to get away.

Finally, however, things went a little bit sour for Preston. As he turned left, he immediately realized that that path was a dead end. He tried to back away, intending to take the right fork, but the Careers were now at the entrance. Looking back behind him, Preston didn't see a way out of this.

He was cornered.

And Preston knew that it was probably the last thing that he should do, but he began climbing up one of the ladders that was attached to one of the tanks. He knew that his pursuers would probably follow him, but it couldn't be _too_ far to the conveyor belts that were above the factory floor, could it? Preston knew that this might be a very big risk, but staying with two armed Careers was going to be a very fatal move.

Preston went to the top of the tank. Some kind of purple liquid was being mixed with orange fabric inside. And then he realized: This was where they were making Thneeds, those shirts shaped like the number eight that appeared to be very inconvenient to wear, or use for anything else. When Preston dipped his hand inside the air of the machine, making sure that he didn't touch the multicolored liquid, it was extremely hot, as if it was the inside of an oven.

Preston immediately knew that he didn't want to end up in there. It would be certain death. And as he watched Zelda climb up the ladder behind him, he noticed a lime green liquid being mixed in with the other two colors. He didn't know what this was for- was it to dye the Thneed?

And then Zelda reached the top of the tank, and Preston knew he had to get moving. It might only take one nudge, however, to send Zelda into that tank. Preston didn't like to kill other teenagers, but he would do it if that was what it took to win. Over the last three days, he had gotten sick of waiting around and waiting for other tributes to die, all the while trying to survive himself. He had to actually _do_ something in order to get back home.

Preston looked down at the conveyor belts, seven feet below the bottom of the tank. Maybe he could reach over, hold on, and then let himself fall from there. It would be a long way still, perhaps ten or twelve feet, but why would he have any other option? This was the _Hunger Games,_ and the Gamemakers would want nothing less than a full-on showdown on the machines and conveyor belts.

And then, Zelda slipped. Brett grabbed her leg in a vain attempt to prevent her from falling, but he didn't manage to save her. Instead of falling all the way down to the factory floor, which would have been bad enough since it was more than thirty feet below them, she fell into the tank. Brett was unable to stop her.

The instant Zelda hit the bottom of the tank, she was hit with pain unlike the other. It felt as though she was slowly being burnt alive, from the inside, which was pretty much what these chemicals were made to do. They were dyeing Thneeds, and now Zelda Pixelford was in there along with them.

A few drops flew into the air in response, so Preston made his move sooner rather than later. He slid off of the tank and managed to grab the conveyor belt with his hands rather than his feet. Good. He didn't think he had broken anything, but he couldn't be completely sure of that right now. At the moment, he was too busy trying to escape from the Careers. He didn't care what had happened to Zelda.

Brett also fell backwards in self-defense. Later, he would be kicking himself for this, but he couldn't let go of his survival instincts. He saw the boiling-hot liquid fall onto parts of the ladder. It was so hot that it singed much of the rungs, and Brett knew that the ladder would not be usable anytime soon.

Preston lowered himself down from the conveyor belt. Besides a little bit of soreness in his arms, nothing seemed to be wrong with him physically. He didn't want to see what Zelda's body looked like, so he ran through the ground floor as fast as his legs could carry him. He knew that Zelda was dead, or at least about to die. No one could survive that.

Brett managed to pick himself back up and began running back down the catwalk. He was noticing that the tanks were burning up as well, and so he wanted to make it out of here. He didn't know if the whole factory might go up in flames or not, but he decided to err on the side of caution. In the middle of his dash, he noticed a staircase that he hadn't seen on the way here, probably due to having tunnel vision while chasing Preston. He went down these stairs, looking for the fastest possible way out of the building. He didn't want to be left in there alive.

Preston was running outside of the opposite door as Brett ended up finding. Neither of them ended up acknowledging each other, which was just as well, because otherwise there would most likely have been a bloody battle in which Brett would have won, since he was the only one of the two boys was dead. And, if Brett knew something about boiling liquid, Zelda was most likely dead.

 **BOOM.**

Yep, that was the cannon. Despite the fact that he had found the girl annoying, Brett couldn't help but feel a little bad for her death. He figured that it was his fault, both for agreeing to let the Career pack split up and for not being able to stop the District 3 girl from falling into that tank that ended up being her grave.

Once Brett reached the outside of the factory, he didn't stop running. He continued high-tailing it out of there, as behind him, the factory went up in flames as if a bomb had been planted inside of it. Which, effectively, was the case.

Zelda's cannon was the only one that had fired, which Brett figured meant that Preston had also managed to escape the wreckage. This angered the District 2 Career, but he knew that he needed to keep himself on task. If he didn't focus on what was important, he would get distracted easily. That was the key thing to remember here. Yes, he had to get over it.

Brett had made it back inside the city when the hovercraft came in to retrieve Zelda's body. Luckily for both Preston _and_ Brett, they had not been close enough to the destroyed factory to see it.

Zelda's face and arms were covered in purple and orange boils, and there were long green streaks on her arms and legs. All of her clothes had been singed off by whatever that liquid was, so it was definitely not suitable for work. It really was a good thing that it was hidden from the other tributes' eyes.

And so, Zelda Pixelford, the mildly autistic girl from District 3, who had joined up with the Careers and managed to last until the morning of the fourth day, was dead.

* * *

Karla woke to the sound of a cannon, sleeping in a king-sized bed with Taysom.

"What...was that?" she said aloud, which woke her district partner up despite the fact that he was a heavy sleeper. Or maybe he was already up, it was one of the two. Probably the latter, considering the very loud sound.

About thirty to forty-five seconds after the cannon sounded, there was another explosion. This one was a lot bigger, and it could only be the sound of a building exploding. Karla put her hands over her head, but no wave of fire came down upon her. Gradually, she managed to calm her heart rate.

"What was that?" she asked. "A terrorist attack?"

"No" Taysom said. "I mean, _maybe,_ if one of the other tributes has a bomb. But why would they? The Hunger Games don't normally have such cheap weapons as that. It might have been some chemical explosion. Maybe the factory?"

Karla decided not to respond. Her scared expression was enough for the older boy to see what was going on inside her head.

"It's a bit earlier than we usually wake up here in the arena" Taysom said. "That was one hell of an explosion. And I heard a cannon, too. Who do you think is dead?"

"I don't know" came Noelle's voice from the bed across from them.

The Underdog Alliance had moved into a studio apartment with one king bed and one queen bed. The pair from District 7 had not minded sleeping together, leaving the dark-skinned girl a bed to herself. She'd been sleeping well for the first time since the Games had begun, maybe even since she had arrived in the Capitol. Considering that they were now on day four of the Hunger Games, this was an impressive feat.

"There's twelve left" Karla said. "It's us, the five Careers, Preston, the pair from 9, and Flyte. Oh, and _Lace_ ". Karla said the last name with a barely disguised air of hatred.

"That's thirteen, Karla" Taysom said. "Someone just died. So one of them is gone".

"Half the tributes have died, guys" Noelle said, her dark face looking sadder. "Twelve gone, eleven to go". She immediately hated herself for saying that, because it made it sound as though she liked the systematic killing of innocent children.

"Don't worry" Taysom said. "We're going to make this work. We're a group of three now. We control a quarter of the manpower in the arena right now, and that can work wonders in the Hunger Games".

He didn't mention that, at the _very_ beginning of the Games, they had had Vander and Jasper with them as well, both of whom were now dead. And Lace had abandoned them. They'd had that same proportion of all of the tributes at the beginning, and now they were back to how it had been then.

Taysom once again worried about how much longer the alliance could last. Now that Lace had left, it seemed as if Noelle might as well. As much as Taysom hoped that that didn't happen, he had to be realistic. With only nine other tributes left, the girls might become paranoid. He knew that Karla trusted him fully, and he trusted her just as much. But if it came down to it, would they be able to kill?

* * *

Paolina had been woken up by the cannon, just like, she imagined, most of the other tributes. She didn't see how anyone would possibly be able to sleep through something like that. The other tributes were most likely wondering who it was as well.

Half of the tributes were now gone, and yet Paolina still managed to survive. In her new apartment, she had plenty of food, and she didn't think that she would run out anytime soon. This gave her little or no incentive to leave, but of course she knew that she might have to eventually. After all, this wasn't going to be too exciting for the Capitol citizens to watch for too long. And so, the Gamemakers would want to spice things up, make it a bit more interesting.

To which Paolina thought: _Let them._ She was getting bored out of her mind, but not in a dull way. She feared death quite a lot, and yet she was not going to complain if the Gamemakers made what was most likely her last week on this planet interesting.

She decided that now was the time for breakfast. After selecting a bagel with cream cheese from the fridge, she watched the wreckage of the factory (that must have been where the explosion had come from) for any other deaths, or cannons. There were none, however, and soon she was left on her own.

* * *

The Careers who had gone in a group of three to hunt on the previous day, consisting of Garnet, Glory, and Twilight, had spent the night back at the Cornucopia. They were waiting back at the island for something to happen. Maybe the other two Careers would come back to join them. Until then, they really did have no lead on their location.

The color had returned pretty much fully to Garnet's face now, and his breathing was now completely normal. It looked as though he had never been ill. The only lingering signs that the foodborne illness that had struck the Careers had ever even _existed_ was the fact that they had thrown away all of the food from the backpacks. It hadn't been easy to convince Glory that it wasn't to be trusted. She'd insisted on believing that what the Capitol had provided them was trustworthy.

Now that her district partner had almost been killed as a result of eating the rolls from District 10, though, she was starting to listen to reason. All three of the Careers had been changed from that occurrence.

They would be tested yet again when Brett returned from his and Zelda's hunt. The District 3 girl was nowhere to be seen, and Garnet had a sinking feeling that he knew where Zelda was. The same place that 11 or 12 other tributes were, depending on whether or not he was right about this or not.

Garnet's stomach rumbled. It was nearly lunchtime, and he would have liked to eat something, but Twilight wouldn't let him. He'd also seen some sense as a result of that incident. They would now _only_ look inside of the apartments, or else they would have to _hunt_ for food.

 _Looks like I might be using my spear on things other than tributes,_ Garnet thought.

Finally, Brett had reached the group. He looked around at the other three Careers. He hated to repeat things, but the other Careers deserved to know the truth. Much like his district partner had said the previous day, Brett said the bad news that the other three had probably already sensed by now".

"That big factory explosion? That was Zelda falling into a tank of some boiling liquid. Highly flammable, I only just got away. She didn't, though".

 _She didn't._


	21. Trouble Spiders

**This chapter contains my 300,000th word archived on this site. Hell if I know which one it is!**

 **We are down to twelve tributes left. This is going by quickly, and I think that I can finish this by mid-December if I write 1,000 words a day from here on out. I know that the second half will go more quickly than the first half.**

 **In any case, here is a quick recap of where all of the tributes are at this moment:**

 **-The Careers are back at the Cornucopia, licking their wounds after having lost Zelda**

 **-The Underdog Alliance is in their apartment**

 **-Paolina and Lace have each found their own apartments**

 **-Flyte is somewhere in the woods**

 **-Dax is heading into the city**

 **-Preston is also heading back into the city**

 **Not for the first time, I am putting lyrics into this story. I think that it fits very well with what is going to be going on here, so I hope that you enjoy it. I laughed so much while writing the scene where the announcers are talking about the new muttation.**

 **Also, Dax has a flashback here. Actually, two flashbacks. I will say that I have had viral meningitis before, but I can't say too much personally because I was too young to remember. With that in mind, let's proceed to the story, and what might be the best chapter yet of Lorax: The 64th Hunger Games!**

* * *

As the sun approached its zenith, Flyte had found a place to stay for the time being. He didn't think that the Capitol would send the Barbaloot bears on him again, not so soon after their first attack. Therefore, he felt relatively safe in the woods. He knew that the other tributes would most likely be far away from him if he was here, and so that was where he was going to stay.

Not for the first time, he thought about Gleam, and how he felt responsible for her death. He never should have gone down first. He should have been the gentleman, should've foreseen that if he had gone down before her, she might not have had the courage to.

 _Oh, well. You can't change the past, but you CAN change the future. Get working on building a shelter, Flyte!_

Flyte decided that he was going to change up this arena a little for his own benefit. He swung his club and had downed a tree within five seconds. He cut down several more trees, and soon started to work on building a shelter. He knew that if he wanted to survive, shelter was his number one priority. He could forget about any of the other tributes until they actually found him.

It took Flyte two hours to get things the way he wanted. It might have been just him, but it seemed hotter now than it had been on the first day. The first day had maybe been a pleasant sixty-five degrees Fahrenheit, a nice day for a walk in the woods. Now, however, it was at least in the mid-seventies. How much longer would it be until it became just like the worst days in the summer of District 12? How much longer would Flyte be able to exert himself as he had been doing for the last few days?

He counted on his fingers. On the street, he'd never really needed to pay attention to what day of the week it was. Instead, he kept track of the days based on what had happened on each day. There was the day of the Bloodbath, the first day, the day that he and Gleam had been treed by the bear cubs, the day on which Gleam died, and today. That was four days, and he was in the top half. Hopefully that was a fast enough speed for the people of the Capitol not to get bored enough that the Gamemakers would have to bring back the mutts.

Hopefully.

* * *

In a laboratory more than four thousand miles away, Glacier Jackalburg was overseeing the production of a new creature, one that would put the Barbaloot bears to shame. It might not have been in the Dr. Seuss book, but it had been approved by the others, but he was really the boss, so he didn't need to care what the others thought.

This new creation was an eight-legged thing with a large purple shell. It didn't look too threatening, except for the fact that it was nearly the size of a pickup truck. Its pincers were the size of booster seats in cars, and its teeth were like giant black slices of pizza. Blue gunk oozed out of its mouth and cheeks. Its eyes were yellow and quite literally the size of dinner plates. It wore an angry and dangerous expression, like a caged lion. One look at it told you that you did not want this thing anywhere close to you. So you had to hide your kids, hide your wife, hide your kids, hide your wife, and hide your husbands, because it was biting everyone it could get his hands on.

"This looks _amazing!_ " Glacier said, his glacial blue eyes lighting up at the sight of it. This was exactly what he had ordered. It was perfect for the Games, and he knew that the Capitol needed the extra drama. Even with six people dying in the Bloodbath, a car crash, a gruesome mauling by Barbaloot bears, and a factory explosion, that might still not be enough to satiate the audience. They wanted more!

And so, the decision was made. Three of these spiders, dubbed Trouble Spiders, were sent out into the arena. Two were placed in the city, while one was placed on the eastern shore of the middle lake, in the northeastern part of the arena.

When the segment with Caesar Flickerman and Claudius Templesmith was shown alongside the Games, Caesar said, "Any bite from a Trouble Spider is to be reported immediately. It can cause dysphoria, nausea, tinnitus, hallucinations, unconsciousness, coma, and death, in that order. Although unless someone's with you by the fourth stage, you're fucked. Treatment consists of massive doses of intra-"

"Caesar!" Claudius bellowed.

"What? I just want to give some background!" Caesar said, although with his tone it was hard to take him seriously. Indeed, it seemed as though he had been joking the whole time about symptoms and treatment of Trouble Spider bites.

"The fact remains, Caesar, that the point isn't for the tributes to be able to treat the venom. This is the _Hunger Games,_ goddammit!"

With the last word, Claudius banged his fist on the table. The cups of coffee that he and Caesar had been drinking went flying up into the air, and it splashed Claudius so badly that it looked as though he had just gotten out of a swimming pool filled with urine. Caesar's hairdo was also ruined, and he had to flatten it back down with both of his hands. It was like his hair was a kid on a trampoline, and it just couldn't be tamed. Finally, he sat back down in his chair, resigning himself to the fact that his hair would not lie flat.

Right now, though, the Capitol audience couldn't give a flying fuck about what was going on with the hosts. They were more focused on the next thing that would happen in these Games, which would no doubt be even better.

* * *

Dax had made it into the middle of the city. He was pleased with himself for surviving for seventy-two full hours, and yet he knew that he had to pick it up a notch if he was going to win this thing. That was the key thing for him to remember.

Suddenly, Dax heard a sound. It was an awful sound, although not as awful as the sound of two crushing walls coming together. It sounded more like some kind of an insect...what could that be?

He brandished his spear, fully expecting a deadly confrontation between himself and another tribute, or some kind of muttation. He didn't want this to happen, but he had always considered himself a realist. His mantra in life was not to get his hopes up too high. That way, you'd never get disappointed, at least in theory.

Sure enough, Dax was _not_ disappointed with what he found behind him. That didn't mean that he was happy with it, however.

What looked like a giant ladybug with a purple shell was standing in a threatening pose, looking like it was ready to have Dax for an afternoon snack, and then eat the Careers for dinner. It was very clearly livid, and he could probably have eaten the tractor that Dax had driven on the morning of the reaping. Granted, he would have to tear it up into pieces first.

 _Well, fuck,_ Dax thought.

He did not want to die here. Not after coming this far. If he could survive four days in the Hunger Games, he could escape this ladybug muttation. He was _sure_ it was a mutt, because what natural animal had eyes the size of dinner plates, or teeth the size of pizza slices? Not something that Dax had ever encountered in District 9, that was for sure.

Dax turned to run, but this thing was fast. Dax could barely make it ten yards before he felt it envelop him, but not physically. Instead, Dax felt as though it was making him nauseous in some way. Was this the venom this thing undoubtedly had, having its effect on Dax? It was quite possible, and indeed, likely, that this was a creature that would eventually kill Dax. Unless he got away, _fast._ Was it even still possible for him to get away alive?

He thought that it might be time to join Aurora up in the clouds, but then he managed to get a second wind. Ears buzzing, feeling as though he was going to toss every meal he'd had in the arena, and even what he'd eaten before in the Capitol, he turned and began jogging as quickly as he could through the lanes. Was he starting to see shapes? Colors, hues that weren't really there?

He ran as far as he could until he collapsed in an alleyway. But he didn't black out, which he soon wished that he would have. If he had, then it would at least have been fairly painless.

 _Dax's head was hurting. It felt as though someone was driving a pitchfork straight through it. He could barely open his eyes, because even the slightest bit of white light was more torture. He wanted it to end, wanted to end his life if that was what it took, but he needed to stay with his family. He needed to help take care of them, now that Aurora was gone. He needed to._

 _His parents had forced him to go to the clinic in District 9, where he'd been forced to lay on his stomach as the doctor painfully inserted a needle into his back in order to draw fluid from his spine. It was very painful, and he wished that it would simply end! He wanted to get through this pain._

 _When the diagnosis came back, viral meningitis, the doctor had released him back to home, and he had managed to survive the next week in bed, drinking lots of fluids._

Dax shivered at the incoming pain, just like when he had had viral meningitis two months after Aurora's death. He'd managed to get to the point where he could at least manage to function like a normal human being when he had fallen ill. It was the worst pain he had ever felt, even worse than breaking his ankle on the farm.

The scene changed.

 _Now, Dax is sitting at home on the old, dusty couch. He's keeping his eyes trained on the TV, knowing that his elder sister is in the final four of the Hunger Games. Aurora Baylor is very close to winning and surviving. Dax is on the edge of his seat, praying for his sister's life._

 _Aurora enters an abandoned laboratory. She's walking along the walls, looking for something that might be of use to her._

 _Suddenly, there is a creaking sound, and the walls begin moving together almost imperceptibly, and Dax realizes that his sister is about to be crushed. He's forced to watch as she says good-bye to her younger siblings. After two hours of this agony, during which she is shown constantly, the walls finally reach the point where they crush her completely, and a cannon fires._

 _Aurora Baylor of District 9...was so close, and yet so far, finishing in fourth place._

Dax hated that memory. It had literally been the very worst day of his life so far, even more so than the day that he had been reaped for the Hunger Games. He wished that this would all end, and that the Capitol could leave the districts alone. Of course, that would never happen.

Eventually, the horrific scenes were over, and Dax was left leaning against the building. It could have been worse, however- the venom, or whatever it was, had not killed him yet, only caused those hallucinations. If he hadn't died yet, that meant that most likely the Capitol wasn't going to kill him with some kind of slow-acting poison. No, he thought that the audience preferred blood and gore. And, if Dax had to die, then he'd go out fighting, making sure to not give up until the bitter end. That he swore.

* * *

The hours continued to pass. The Careers, having gotten a late start to the day, were now in a section of the city about half a mile from the destroyed factories. Now that Zelda's body had been taken into the sky that morning, there was no longer any sign of her. The sun was already starting to sink towards the treetops, but it was still plenty light.

In addition, the Careers were all together now. The four of them had lost Zelda while divided. They figured that if they stayed as a united front, that would give them better odds of all staying alive, of living to see the anthem tonight.

Right now, they were hunting for tributes. The Underdog Alliance was probably still in the city somewhere, and the Careers were determined to dismantle it at all costs. After all, that was still their biggest threat to domination of the rest of the Hunger Games.

They had no supplies left in their bags, Twilight having insisted on getting rid of all their food. She didn't want to start any more IVs, and the other Careers didn't want to get sick again. The result was that they had to forage in the city for anything they would eat, which might be hard.

Nobody in the group voiced any worry about disbanding the alliance. They were now just four in twelve, which meant that a third of the remaining tributes were in the Career pack. If they got into a big battle with the Underdog Alliance, would that really be to their benefit?

"Guys...did you hear something?" Twilight asked.

Glory didn't hear anything. She reminded herself that the boys didn't know yet that Twilight had superior hearing, and she wasn't going to betray that secret. Brett and Garnet looked equally dumbfounded.

"It sounded like...some gigantic insect. The pincers...it sounded _angry_ ". She failed to suppress a shudder, which must have either worried the others or made them laugh internally at her perceived weakness.

"Guys, I don't have a good feeling about this".

Sure enough, a spider the size of a pickup truck was ambling its way towards the Careers, its mouth drooling blue gunk, its shell an angry shade of purple. The Careers knew that it meant business. They didn't want to get eaten by this thing.

"Run!" Glory yelled, unnecessarily. The four Careers all sprinted as quickly as they could into an alleyway. With their current position, they were safe from it. The spider was too large to fit in the alleyway, so it wasn't going to just happen. But they still worried somewhat as they saw, or rather heard, the spider running away. Where was it going next?

* * *

What was that loud noise?

Lace had never heard anything like it. Despite her better judgment telling her that this might be a trap by the Gamemakers, her curiosity managed to get the better of her. She ran down the street, in the direction of the noise. She'd always been a rather curious person, and that might have been a bad thing. However, she was determined to know if it was her old alliance, or the Careers. She had a vendetta against both groups of people, and was now determined to be the sole survivor.

At this moment, she didn't know what she was looking for. A weapon? Food? Both? A place to hide?

She didn't know what she would do now, but all that was too important was to dispatch the Careers and the rest of the Underdog Alliance. With both alliances disarmed, she might actually have a shot at winning this thing.

And then, Caesar Flickerman's voice came onto the screen. Lace was expecting a feast, or some other special announcement, but that was not it.

Instead, Caesar said, "It's time for some music. These Games have been a little drab without it. Don't you agree with me, Claudius?"

"Totally. It's time to spice things up. What do you think we should play now, Caesar?"

"It's easy!" Caesar said. "We are going to play one of my favorites...it's from Coldplay...a little tune called 'Trouble'!"

Lace did like Coldplay to a certain degree, and she could definitely get behind them playing one of her favorite songs from the band. It was a rather creepy song, but it was better than being forced to continue hearing that annoying insect noise. _What_ was that?

At the moment, however, Lace didn't really care. It was the fourth day of the Hunger Games, and she had made it this far, so why should she expect anything else to be such a great obstacle for her, the great Lace Werhts?

The tune started up, and Lace began to hear the voice of Chris Martin. She couldn't help but nod her head a little in the rhythm of the song.

It was the same song that she remembered from her childhood. However, she did have a little bit of a foreboding feeling. _Something_ was not right about this. No, this was not good, and she got the feeling that she was about to find out why. She continued running in the same direction, however, sure that whatever lay ahead, she would be able to face it.

Suddenly, Lace was lifted off of her feet. She rose five, seven, twelve feet into the air, as if she had been on one of those mega-trampolines that you find at fairs. Not that Lace had ever been on one, but she'd seen other people do it, and this was probably very similar. Not like it really mattered, though.

When she came to her senses, she realized that she was slightly entangled in white threads, which clashed with the darkening sky. Soon, the anthem would play. She wondered if she would be able to see it from the ground, but she instantly knew she would.

Lace turned, trying to get out of this web and run away. However, she soon realized that she was ensnared pretty good. It must have been a muttation of some kind. Right now, though, there was no sign of an impending death. She was already dehydrated and very hungry from a day of being alone.

The song continued.

Lace came to a dark realization. The lyrics of the song were pretty analogous to her current situation. It sure had been stupid abandoning her alliance like that. And now, she was caught in the middle of a literal spider web. What irony!

At the time that she had run away, she had thought that she had been doing it to hurt the others in the Underdog Alliance. However, she now realized that she _hadn't_ been intending to detriment the others by doing what she had done. What had she been _thinking?_

The next thing she noticed, however, was that she was no longer alone. The sight of the creature that greeted her made her feel like she was going to faint, but if she lost consciousness here, she would be dead.

The spider was the size of a pickup truck, with a bright purple shell, yellow eyes, and drooling blue gunk out of its mouth. It looked as though it was about to devour Lace easily, and it was clearly very, _very_ hungry. Lace tried to get out once again, but she knew the thing about spider webs, which was that the more you tried to wriggle your way out of it, the more entangled you would get in it, much like a pair of Chinese handcuffs. She was trapped.

As the spider went in for the kill, she tried to get out of the way once again, but the pincers had managed to get to her. She could only manage to think of her family, and how emotionally devastated they must be in this very moment. And she thought more about how she was dying, listening to a song that was very appropriate to her _method_ of death.

It was Lace's favorite line in the song that was coming up now. The tongue of the spider got around Lace's body, and she tried to slide out of its mouth. Unfortunately, it was too little, too late. Granted, the best way for her to avoid getting eaten by a spider was to not run down the road, even. The fact was, she was done.

As she fell down the throat of the spider, she could hardly hear the last lyrics of the song.

The spider, having devoured Lace, licked its lips until the cannon fired. It stared at the camera with its dinner-plate eyes as the final words played.

* * *

 **That's a chilling end to the chapter! I wasn't going to put the obituaries here, because I didn't want to ruin it, but I feel like the anticlimax had already been reached.**

 **Anyways...RIP Zelda and Lace.**

 **Zelda: Like three of the other characters here, I created her, and so there was never a chance that she was going to win. Like me, she does have Asperger's. The blogger who is doing a blog about this story has yet to include her death, but she does have a face claim of Zelda. The actual face claim that I initially included was actually that for one of my neurotypical friends, but I didn't include the name just so I could protect her, and by extension my own, privacy. In any case, I wrote the whole part with the Careers. I also liked her death as well, because it was sure a horrible way to go out! Her will to play-test video games will not be forgotten any time soon. Ride that Rainbow Road now, Zelda Pixelford.**

 **Lace: I enjoyed this girl, who was also submitted by my good friend Peyton. I enjoyed just how pompous she was, as well as writing her decision to leave the Underdog Alliance. Her death was definitely a scene that I'll remember for quite a while, and I hope you do as well. Coldplay is one of my family's favorite bands, and the song fit perfectly with Lace's method of death. I'll miss her for sure.**

 **With that, we're more than halfway done with the Games! In the next chapter, another three tributes will die. I hope that you enjoy it, because it might be quite a bit longer than this one.**

 **In any case, SnowLucario is out.**


	22. Total Carnage

**All right! Sorry for the wait, but I have just not been quite as motivated to write as of late. On Saturday, I didn't eat lunch, so I didn't have as much energy after working out. Plus, this is a fairly long chapter in any case, so I hope that you get a kick out of how it is going. Make sure to review.**

 **In other news, I put up my Space Land playthrough on YouTube on Saturday, and Mystery Land on Sunday, so go check that out if you like.**

 **In a few weeks, once all of this is over, I plan to start a new story called "Wing And A Scare", and I will be accepting character submissions. I'll say when, though.**

 **With that, it's time to get started!**

* * *

As the sky got darker and darker, the anthem played.

First came Zelda from District 3, and she was followed by Lace from District 8. No boys had died since the first day, and there were now a minority of tributes remaining. At this rate, the Games might be over fairly soon.

Which would be great for the Careers. With little or no food supplies, they would be forced to split up soon. The question remained whether or not it was going to be a peaceful disbandment, or if one or more of the Careers would die. The anthem caused them to re-mourn Zelda and further evaluate their priorities in terms of who to target for the kill next.

"I think that Taysom and his group are still a threat" Glory said. "They always will be, as long as they stay together. They are _tight_ ".

"I agree with my district partner, but I also want to go after Flyte and Preston. A score of nine cannot be ignored". Garnet was being the voice of reason here for once.

"I'll go with what Garnet said" Brett responded. He stepped a little closer to the District 1 boy, while Twilight stepped a little closer to Glory. Garnet had noticed that, ever since Zelda had died this morning, the two pairs of genders had seemed to get closer together. Whether or not this would result in a battle between the two factions was anyone's guess. There was no question, however, that they weren't as tight as they had been before. It looked as though the Career alliance was close to being a thing of the past.

* * *

Preston, ever since the factory explosion, had been hiding out in what appeared to be an abandoned restaurant. He knew that he would be able to eat well in here, at least compared to many of the other tributes. He also knew that this might make him more of a target, but he might also be better nourished, and thus stronger, thus able to fight off any attackers.

He had known that Zelda had died in that factory explosion, but he'd had no idea what had happened with the other tribute who had died. He'd heard 'Trouble' by Coldplay, and he had not had any idea as to what that might have been about. It must have just been the Gamemakers adding it for dramatic effect, but even that wasn't what pissed Preston off. It was the fact that adding music to a tribute's death was _exactly_ the thing he might have done, had he actually had the moral depravity necessary to be a Gamemaker.

He was in the final eleven, which pleased him. He was getting closer to the point where he would not have had sacrificed himself for Ethan. He didn't want his best friend back in District 5 feeling guilty. In that case, he would never be able to forgive himself.

After a dinner of broccoli and beef, he had decided to make a rudimentary bed out of two of the tables. It wasn't terribly comfortable, but Preston was tired enough that he got to sleep after about an hour of tossing and turning, worried the whole time that he might roll off in his sleep.

* * *

The sky was gold, it was rose as the sun came up over the Truffula trees. In the air, everything was beautiful, and the fields looked like something you'd see on a new edition of a Candy Land board. It looked like a utopia, and it could honestly be seen as being one of the best possible places that one could conceive of. There were definitely no forests like this in any of the districts, that was for sure.

On the ground, though, everything was chaos. There were two alliances vying for dominance, but both were likely to be disbanded soon. Between them, four loners were spread out around the arena. There was no telling what might happen.

In layman's terms, this was the fifth day of the sixty-fourth Hunger Games.

Flyte was going for a morning hunt through the woods. If he was to have any sort of staying power in these Games, he needed food, and he needed to let these Games end sooner rather than later. He didn't know how much longer he could keep this up.

Right now, however, he was trying to remain as calm as possible about his current situation. If he continued mourning Gleam, then he would be a goner. He needed to focus on surviving for the moment. When he was sitting in that chair on the stage with Caesar Flickerman, the victor's crown on his head, _that_ was when he could mourn.

After all, it had been two days since her death. In the Hunger Games, he felt like he should have been over it by now, what with everything else that was going on. However, he knew that it wasn't that simple. Nothing ever was.

As Flyte entered the clearing that surrounded one of the lakes, he decided to stop in order to fill a water bottle that he had found in a store, back in the city. He had also brought a small bottle of iodine to purify it. After days of relative dehydration, it was heavenly to be able to drink it after waiting half an hour. He wished that Gleam could have been with him in this moment, but of course that was impossible. No one ever came back from the dead, at least in Flyte's experience. He didn't believe that Jesus Christ had, and he didn't believe that he, or any of his fellow tributes, would have a second chance at life.

He continued to ponder this until he heard the sound of leaves rustling behind him. At least, the trees were.

At first, Flyte thought that it was just the wind, but there was none. It was as calm a day as could be, considering that it was Day 5 of the Hunger Games. Then, he looked behind him.

A scythe was pointed directly at Flyte's heart. The person handling it was none other than Dax Baylor from District 9. Flyte honestly hadn't thought that there was any way that Dax would have wanted to kill anyone, but there he was. Flyte knew that Dax was faster than him, so he'd have to come up with a convincing enough reason for the younger boy not to kill him.

"Why do you want to kill me so much?" Flyte asked casually.

Dax didn't flinch at this, as if he had already had an answer prepared for this question. Which, of course, he probably had.

"This is the _Hunger Games._ I've decided to take matters into my own hands now. It's going too slowly for my liking".

Flyte wondered if he could convince Dax to align with him instead of killing him. He felt that it was a long shot, but he had to try.

"I'll tell you what" Flyte said.

"What?" Dax asked, leaning back to throw his scythe. Flyte held up his club, ready to block it.

"Form an alliance with me. We can work on getting rid of the Career alliance, then maybe the Underdog Alliance as well, then separate peacefully".

Dax only laughed, but not in a way that he might have if he had just heard a good joke. "Nice try" he said.

With that, Dax threw his scythe. Flyte was ready, however, and he swung his club like a baseball bat, forcing Dax to duck in order to not get hit with his own scythe. It was clear now that this would not end peacefully.

Flyte went on the offensive, trying to club the younger boy to death. He might have been a lot bigger than Dax, and muscular from spending all of that time on the streets, protecting the younger children. The only thing Dax had on him was a better weapon. He could win this fight!

Flyte swung the club again, but Dax was clearly not a novice in the art of parrying. Soon, _Flyte_ was the one on the defensive, not focusing on hurting the District 9 boy as he was in protecting himself. Dax was becoming more and more relentless, or maybe that was just Flyte getting tired.

Flyte swung his club again, and it bowled Dax off of his feet. Despite this, he managed to regain his composure quite quickly, before Flyte could grab his scythe. If the other boy had both weapons, Dax was fucked. He needed to keep control of at least his scythe.

Dax made an efficient swipe of his scythe, cutting Flyte in the chest. His outfit ripped, and blood gushed from the wound. He looked at it for a second, not believing that it was there. Dax took advantage of this to land another hit on his stomach.

Now, Flyte had two wounds. Instead of making him weaker as it did some people, the sight of his own blood galvanized him into action. He managed to hit Dax in the right arm with his club, causing him to drop his scythe.

Dax wasn't worried, though. Flyte hadn't managed to break his arm, and he could still use his left hand with the scythe. Granted, he wasn't that good at using any weapons left-handed, but he could cope.

Besides, the other boy was fading fast. Dax could see Flyte desperately trying to maintain a hold on consciousness. His two wounds were bleeding very badly. It was time for Dax to finish this!

Dax swung his scythe at Flyte's stomach once again, which caused the older boy to collapse. He was unconscious now, which gave Dax the perfect opportunity to kill him.

The District 9 boy took a deep breath and stabbed the District 12 boy directly through the heart. He heard the cannon fire, and then stepped back.

He had just gotten his first kill. Now, he knew what it felt like. To be a murdered of a fellow teenage boy. And yet, he didn't feel too bad about it. He knew that it was only self-defense. And now, there were only ten left.

Just ten.

* * *

The sound of the cannon woke Paolina up. She looked at the clock in her apartment, which told her that it was 6:36 in the morning. Not much earlier than she usually woke up, but a little early for anyone else to be up and killing anyone.

Who had died? All she knew was that there were ten tributes left, including her. Subtracting who had died, it was her and Dax, Flyte from District 12, Preston from District 5, the four remaining Careers, and the three remaining members of the Underdog Alliance. She knew that she herself was still alive, but was it one of the Careers who had left the world this morning? She had no way of finding out until tonight, so she had to be patient.

She heard the sound of chimes. She'd been forced to watch enough seasons of the Hunger Games to know what this was.

Sure enough, a silver parachute came descending slowly from the sky. As far as she knew, it was the first time in these Games that anyone had been sponsored, which was surprising. Sponsor gifts typically came earlier in the Games, because they cost more and more as they went on. This must have cost a lot of money for whoever had sent it to her, and yet they had done it anyway. Paolina said a silent thank-you to whoever in the Capitol had done this.

Paolina decided to open her gift straight away. She had no reason to delay it, after all, and it might contain something she desperately needed.

It turned out to be both a blessing and a curse, what was inside it. A photo of her parents, back in front of their small Wheatlands home back in District 9, was what she held in her hands.

It took all of her effort not to burst out into tears. She reminded herself that she needed to be able to make good on her promise to come home in order for this gift to help her, and that wouldn't help if her crying alerted any of the other tributes.

It still hurt to see them like this. Seeing the picture of her parents, Barry and Heather, in a picture, was very hard for her. She knew, deep down, that she would not be able to greet them, because they were irretrievably far away.

She was no longer happy that she had been sponsored. They might have been getting a little closer to the climax of the Games, but if the Capitol had thought that this would help her get to the very end of the Hunger Games, they were kidding themselves.

* * *

At about eight in the morning, Taysom woke up. He didn't know why neither of the girls had woken him up, but he had heard the sound of a cannon in his dreams. Was that...another tribute who had died? He wouldn't be able to confirm or deny that until tonight, assuming he survived that long.

"Oh, look, he's finally up!" Noelle said excitedly.

Taysom sat up in bed and groaned. He really had slept like a rock, if it was true that a cannon had fired earlier.

"Did a cannon fire last night, while I was asleep?" he asked, not knowing what he wanted the answer to be.

"Actually, it wasn't last night, but it was this morning" Karla replied.

There still hung a little bit of tension between them about something that they had seen in the sky last night.

"Lace is dead" Taysom said. Last night, it had not fully sunken in yet, at least to the District 7 boy. The other girls had talked about it quite a bit among themselves, but Taysom had just been focused on going to bed. After all, he knew that he needed his rest for what would lie ahead. Day 5 now, and the end of the Hunger Games was still a long way off.

"I know. But it doesn't matter, really. She wasn't even our ally anymore, and at this point we should really just be worried about ourselves" Noelle said.

Looking at her, Taysom realized that the dark-skinned girl had a point. If someone else had died this morning, this meant that they were down to the final ten. One more and they would be into the single digits.

How much longer could an alliance of three last, when there were so few common enemies?

"There are still the Careers, though, and they have four" Karla said. "Unless one of them died?" she said, counting on her fingers.

"Karla, I don't think that we could have persuaded Lace back to our side. If she had had a weapon, she would've tried to kill us on the spot, without hesitation. You do realize that, don't you?" Taysom asked. The large boy could sense the tension in the apartment building. Sooner or later, someone might try to run away. _Let them,_ he thought. An uneasy alliance was worse than no alliance at all.

But then he reminded himself that they were down three to four against the Careers, with three loners still out there somewhere. He didn't know who the cannon had belonged to, but he was pretty sure that it wasn't one of the Careers.

Taysom didn't want the alliance to disband, but he remembered last year. Vair, the boy from District 8, had been moved to kill Leo of District 3, one of his allies, at the final seven due to his paranoia. Was this going to happen here?

Noelle ran into the kitchen. Karla went after her. Taysom stayed where he was, shocked at this turn of events. Little did he know, what happened next would shock him further still.

He ran into the room with the two girls in order to investigate. Noelle went over to the drawer and grabbed a knife. It wasn't one of the throwing knives used in the Capitol, though. This was a _bread knife,_ the kind that kids were never allowed to use for fear of cutting themselves. The District 11 girl went over to a loaf of bread, standing over it as if she was about to slice it up into pieces, in order to eat. She looked as though that might have been what she was going to do.

Instead, she lunged at Karla. Taysom's district partner was not expecting the surprise attack, and so she had no defense against Noelle. The knife cut straight through her stomach as if it was a watermelon, nothing more. With the amount of blood that spewed out of the hole, it looked like it could have been that.

Karla collapsed, her stomach looking like a miniature version of Yellowstone National Park. She could only stare, glassy-eyed, at her killer as her cannon fired. Then, she perceived nothing else.

Taysom was standing there, completely numb to the situation. Noelle looked as though she might be about to break down and cry, but she managed to pull herself together. The District 11 girl could barely comprehend what she had just done.

Taysom wasn't going to take any chances with this girl. One of his best friends had just turned into someone that he most wanted dead. She had killed Karla. Just when Taysom was beginning to think that they were a happy, albeit dysfunctional family, Lace had run away and then died on the following day. Now, Noelle had killed his district partner.

The boy ran to the doorway and stared right at Noelle, still standing in the kitchen. Karla's blood was beginning to turn the white tile floor a dark shade of crimson. He was worried that he might be next, and he knew that he couldn't trust her any more.

Taysom turned and ran down the stairs.

* * *

Preston had slept late once again. Even after the cannon, he had decided to roll over and go back to sleep. He only woke up an hour or two later, when a second cannon fired.

 _Wow. They're dropping like flies,_ he thought. He was now in the final nine, if two people had already died this morning. He hoped that they might have been Careers, but he felt that that was a little too optimistic. Despite this, he allowed himself to indulge in this fantasy for a little while.

If the Career pack had disbanded this morning, what were the implications for him? There might be fewer Careers left now, and they would no longer be one unified force, but they were also more likely to run into him now. Preston didn't have a weapon to defend himself with, so that made him nervous.

He knew that tensions were definitely rising as the climax of the Games approached. He didn't know if he was willing to go all the way back to the Cornucopia when the Careers, if indeed they had not yet disbanded, were camping out there, probably waiting for something like that to happen. That would be a very suicidal move, and if Preston Wagner died in that manner, he would only have himself to blame.

He was well-stock in terms of food, however. That was kind of a given, since he was currently in a restaurant. Thus far, he had yet to suffer any ill effects of the food, and he was beginning to think that he might be able to subsist off of what was contained here for the rest of the Games. Of course, the Capitol would probably never allow it, because they couldn't let one tribute hoard _all_ of the food. But, for right now, he was just fine with what was going on. It worked enough for him, for now, and that was all that mattered.

Preston decided, just to be safe, to begin to practice his skills with knives. There were an ample amount of them in the restaurant, so that wasn't a problem for him. He hung plates on the wall and used them as targets.

It made some noise, but he didn't care about that. He knew that if he could master throwing knives enough, it wouldn't matter if all four remaining Careers (or maybe only three or two, if they had been the ones to die this morning) came over to him right now, he could take them. He was convinced of it, but he tried not to get too comfortable. That was the one worst thing you could be in the Hunger Games.

* * *

By noon on the fifth day, it was clear that two power couples had formed in the Career alliance.

On one side were Garnet and Brett, the boys. They seemed to have been getting closer together, ever since Garnet's health scare. They often ate off by themselves, a noticeable distance away from the two girls. Twilight and Glory were also becoming closer together, evolving into an almost sisterly relationship. These two pairs were definitely getting further and further apart as each day passed.

The Careers had no food, except for what they could get from the city or the woods. Two of their members had died through the actions of the Gamemakers, rather than other tributes. Now, there were only nine tributes left, meaning that only five people remained outside of their alliance.

The only thing that had been keeping them together this long, Glory figured, was the fact that there was still an alliance of three made up of the boy from District 7 and two of the girls, from 7 and 11. That, and it was also possible that Garnet still felt a certain degree of loyalty to Twilight. After all, if she hadn't taken him to the hospital and hooked him up to an IV, he might be just as dead right now as Sparkle or Zelda.

Brett was also getting more and more fidgety, as if he was getting ready to spring to his feet and leave at any moment. The Careers were currently sitting in what used to be an Italian restaurant, eating lunch. As Glory picked slices of pepperoni off of her pizza, she looked over at her district partner, who was eating a chicken parmesan sandwich as if it was the last one in the world. He was savoring it, and that made Glory worry. In the Training Center, the boys had eaten like animals, trying to put on as much additional weight in preparation for the Games.

There were two possibilities: Either Garnet was wary about the food's safety, or he was planning to leave soon. Either way, it was a cause for worry. He was also eyeing his knife, a suspicious sign. But Glory didn't want to jump to conclusions just yet. She didn't want to disband the alliance any sooner than necessary.

She thought once again to the day that she had checked out of the community home. She hadn't done that just to end up dead in the disbandment of the Careers, betrayed by her own ally. And yet, she figured that that might end up happening. She might be killed in the disbandment of the Careers.

That was not going to happen.

Glory finished her slice of pizza and sipped on her glass of root beer, trying to look as nonchalant as possible, as if she was just enjoying another luxurious lunch in the arena. If not for her clothing, she certainly looked the part, with the red velvet decorum of the whole building.

Brett looked up from his apple crisp dessert. "So...what is our plan going forward?"

"What do you mean?" Twilight asked, trying to hide her worry. Glory could tell that the District 2 girl was worried about the same thing that she was. _Great minds think alike!_ she thought.

In a fight, could she take Twilight? Or would they take each other's side in the battle that would ensue, _if_ that even happened. There was no guarantee that the disbandment would be as violent as it often was.

"Well, there's only nine of us left, and four of us Careers are still together" Garnet said. Brett had been thinking exactly the same thing. It was almost as if the two remaining male Careers were part of a collective hive-mind, thinking the same thoughts at the same times.

"When are we going to disband?" Brett finished. He grabbed his fork, ready to defend against any attacks that might come as a result of this question.

"I don't see the need to, we've still got the Underdog Alliance to worry about" Twilight responded. She too looked ready to try to fight off the other Careers if it became necessary. Glory could see her worried expression reflected in her own. This was on, no matter what they wanted to happen.

Garnet made the first move. He put down his half-finished sandwich, cheese and sauce all over his hands. Despite this, he was still able to handle his spear.

"I guess...the answer's right now" Glory said. She was still going to give the Capitol a good show, but she would leave before things got too dangerous. She wanted to avoid her district partner, but she saw Brett as a potential target. That was what she was going to go for. Her goal: kill Brett Mason.

Garnet threw his spear. Twilight threw her ninja stars. The events that happened next seemed to Glory as if they were going on in slow motion.

The two weapons met in midair. The ninja stars were deflected by the spear, and Twilight had to dodge them. Unfortunately for her, moving to the left and avoiding the spear meant sliding _directly into the firing line._

The spear went right into Twilight's heart. Blood squirted everywhere, and then the cannon fired.

"Seven left" Garnet said.

"Dude!" Brett said. "Not cool! She _saved your life_ just the other day!"

Garnet only laughed sadly. "This is the Hunger Games, Brett. We are no longer allies. It makes no difference anymore".

Glory knew what was happening now. The Career alliance was over. And her best friend had died. She'd gotten closer to Twilight over the last two weeks than she ever had to anyone back in District 1 other than her departed brother. It wasn't time to join him just yet, though.

With all her might, Glory swung her spatha. Brett tried to dodge it, but he ended up with a large cut near his belly button. It began to ooze blood, and he knew that he had to get out of the way.

Brett didn't even consider re-entering the fray of combat. Since he was now wounded, he needed to leave. Clutching his stomach, he ran outside of the restaurant, trying not to throw up from the pain.

Glory knew what she needed to do. She charged at Garnet, but he was too skilled for her. He only laughed as he blocked her spatha with his spear. It didn't do anything to slow him down, and Glory knew that she would have to get away.

She ran out of the restaurant in the same direction as Brett. She didn't know where she was going to go, only _away_ from her district partner.

Garnet Golds could be a nice person, once you got to know him. However, he would not listen to reason in a situation like this. He could go from gentlemanly to truculent, ladies' man to coldhearted killer, zero to sixty in five seconds flat. And Glory was not going to pay the price.

* * *

Brett made it about half a mile before he collapsed. Somehow, however, he found the strength to go on.

Remembering what his district partner had said about there being a hospital in the arena, he looked for it. It wasn't hard, considering that there was a red Swiss cross right in the middle of it. He staggered into the door and looked around for a room. Navigating an obstacle course of discarded beds, IV poles, and computers, he managed to find some bandages. He used them to patch up his wound.

Then, he walked on over to one of the beds. He wished that he could have brought some food from the restaurant, but with Garnet going on a killing rampage, there had been no chance to.

Brett was so exhausted that he couldn't even manage to stay awake after he reached the bed. He just blacked out, and yet had faith that he _would_ come to.

* * *

 **I hope you liked that chapter! It's a little bit over 5,000 words, so it was hopefully a decent length for you guys. We are getting close to the climax.**

 **And, seriously, was that not EPIC, seeing two alliances disband in one chapter? I sure think so!**

 **SnowLucario out.**


	23. Eight

**A** **ll right! This time, there will be no final eight family interviews, mainly because I want to get this chapter going, and I hope to finish the story by mid-December. I will say that we are getting close to the end of the Games, though. Let's see if you enjoy this chapter.**

 **In other news, I've reached over 9,000 views in total for all of my stories, which is really awesome. I'm hoping that most of you will stick around for my next story, and then I can also pick up some new people in terms of reviewers for the next story.**

 **The reason this is so short is partly because I didn't write on Wednesday. Reason being, I stayed up past midnight waiting for the electoral votes to come in. The more I think about it, the more I realize that this is a stupid system for electing our leaders. In the reviews, feel free to discuss the results!**

 **Time to get going!**

* * *

Brett woke up. For a few seconds, he had a hard time remembering why he was in a medical center. Then, he recalled what had happened before he'd passed out. He had bandaged his chest wound, which was no longer bleeding, luckily. He recalled how the Career pack had disbanded just a few hours ago. The clock read 3:41 PM, meaning that he had been either asleep or unconscious, he didn't care which, for nearly three hours. What mattered was right now.

He felt a lot of hatred for Garnet. He knew that he himself had made a mistake in bringing the question up, but Garnet was the one who had killed his district partner, and tried to kill his own. After Twilight had practically saved Garnet's life, the District 1 boy had pulled the ultimate asshole move and betrayed her.

Now, Brett re-evaluated his list of targets. Taysom had been at the top of his hit list before, but now he had been moved to second after Garnet, that was how mad Brett was at his former ally. It wasn't that he had even liked Twilight that much, but what Garnet had done was _wrong._

And then, Brett realized one important truth. He'd always told himself that he was doing this for Estonia, because he wanted to marry her. But now, he realized all along that it had been for _himself._ Estonia Jenkins loved Brett back, so it wasn't unrequited, but it was her _father_ who made Brett enter the Hunger Games in order to marry her.

This made Brett even more mad at the man. It wasn't enough that he had to be snobbish and rude, as well as rich as fuck, but he had to make Brett fight for his life in the Hunger Games.

He was almost tempted to give up, but then he remembered that if he gave up, that was probably what Mr. Jenkins wanted. And so, Brett vowed to continue fighting for his life. He wanted to be the victor, and sole survivor, of the Hunger Games.

Now, he just had to figure out how to make that happen.

* * *

After the disbandment of the Underdog Alliance, Taysom had been beside himself with grief and hurt. Not only was his district partner, who had been like a younger sister to him, dead, but Karla had been killed by Noelle, a girl whom Taysom had thought he could trust. It was a horrible betrayal, and Taysom was _very_ angry.

However, there had been two simple reasons that he hadn't killed Noelle. For one, he didn't have a weapon at the moment, and he could have used knives, but he would have been completely defenseless as he went over to the drawer. In addition, Taysom had gone into the Hunger Games not wanting to kill unless _absolutely necessary._ And he hadn't figured that he needed to fight Noelle, only run away from her. So that was what he did. He simply fled the scene, not wanting any blood on his hands.

After leaving the apartment building, he had made sure that Noelle wasn't following him. For such a young girl, she could sure turn into a cold-blooded killer when she wanted to. Taysom knew that he had to be careful. As the number of tributes dwindled, the other adolescents would become more and more desperate. They would be more willing to kill and take risks, because the fact remained that there were fewer places for them, or anyone else, to hide.

Eight left now...yes, they would be holding the family interviews. Taysom thought about his aunt and uncle, who, while they were less than loving to him, were still his family. He hoped that they weren't too traumatized by seeing Taysom's death, if it did come and he wasn't the eventual victor, but something told him that they would most likely be fine.

As the shadows lengthened slightly along the streets, Taysom headed out into the woods. Noticing that the Cornucopia was not being guarded at the moment, he decided to take a quick swim in order to grab a weapon. Knowing that he could use some knives, he located some still near the horn.

Taysom jumped in the water and pulled himself along the rope, hoping that none of the other tributes were lying in wait for him there. It would be a very, _very_ unpleasant surprise to be blindsided by Glory or Garnet.

A small voice came from the inside, "Don't kill me! Please! No! Don't make me do this again!"

It was a female voice, sobbing. It was a voice Taysom knew all too well. After all, he'd spent the last five days with her.

"Noelle?" he asked incredulously, not believing what his eyes were telling him. The dark-skinned girl was crying over the weapons rack, as well as the few remaining backpacks present in the horn. The Careers seemed to have disposed of all of their food, and Taysom had no idea why that was.

"Please forgive me!" she wailed, knowing that she had wronged the pair from District 7. "I just got pa-pa-paranoid about th-the f-fact t-that there w-w-were only t-t-t-ten of us remaining! I wish I d-d-didn't kill her!"

Taysom knew that Noelle must have been feeling remorseful right now about killing Karla. Of course, the crying might be fake, in which case Taysom might be the stupidest person to ever play Panem's most dangerous game. And he'd pay for it dearly.

On the other hand, Noelle had been very genuine before she had killed Karla. And Taysom had not been angry enough to throw all caution to the wind and try to kill Noelle, when it became clear to him that he was better with a knife than her. It hadn't exactly been _clean,_ the way she had killed his district partner.

"You want me to forgive you?" Taysom asked.

"Yes!" Noelle cried.

Taysom considered it. The fewer people were left in the arena, the more paranoid those people got. That stood to reason, he thought. And so, he felt that if Noelle had a reason to not kill him, she would take it. There might only be eight people left now, but Taysom felt that he could make this play in order to win Noelle back to his side.

"Noelle" he said.

"Yes?" she sniffled. Taysom decided now that if Noelle was faking her tears, she would not have gone this over-the-top. He therefore decided she was most likely genuine.

"I'll do better than forgive you. Would you like to re-form the Underdog Alliance?"

Noelle looked as though she might faint with happiness. She hadn't been expecting this. Now that she'd been on her own for the last nine hours, she was finally realizing just how much she missed being in an alliance.

"There is one condition, though" Taysom said cautiously.

"What is it? It doesn't matter, I'm accepting!" Noelle cried.

Taysom smiled, but it wasn't a happy one. "From here on out, I'm the only one on watch".

* * *

Dax hadn't gained too much from killing Flyte, other than having gotten rid of one more tribute. He was no longer innocent, either. He kept thinking back to his first kill, which made him realize something.

He actually felt _bad_ about killing the older boy. Dax didn't like thinking about it, but he knew that he was guilty of something very, very evil. What would Aurora have thought? What was she thinking right now, if there was indeed something after you died?

He realized once again just how evil the Hunger Games were. Of course, he was not exactly in an ideal to change that fact of life in Panem, but there was still something he could do.

He had to win. And then, on the Victory Tour, he would make sure to tell District 12 how very, very sorry he was for killing Flyte. That was not going to make up for his crime, but he hoped that they could at least understand a little more about what he had been thinking at that moment. Dax was going to do absolutely everything he could to make sure that, within the next week or so, he would have that victor's crown on his head.

* * *

It had been a fairly emotional day for Paolina. As she looked at the picture of her family once again, she considered what she was going to do next. After all, she couldn't stay holed up in here forever, not if she wanted to win this thing. She didn't want to be too boring for the people in the Capitol to watch, or else the Gamemakers might sic another massive spider on her.

 _I will come home for you,_ she thought.

She was really saying it more to herself than to her parents, but it helped to console her about how things were going. Even though there were only eight tributes left, she didn't have any confidence that she could possibly win this thing.

Paolina looked out of the apartment window. It was almost time for the anthem to come on. Then, she would see which three tributes had died today. Yes, that would help her decide her next course of action.

* * *

Glory was now back at the Cornucopia. Looking around, she had not seen Garnet anywhere, so she assumed it was safe. Brett was also nowhere to be found, meaning that Glory commandeered everything that she could possibly need.

They might have all gotten sick on the second day of the Hunger Games, but the fact remained that Twilight had never been able to definitively prove that the food was dangerous to eat. It might have just been some fluke stomach bug that had been going around.

Glory had trusted the Capitol her entire life, or at least since she was ten. She trusted them far more than she had ever trusted her parents, or even the other Careers. That fucker Garnet had shown that he didn't care what other members of the pack had done for him, he was still willing to stab them in the back at any moment.

Now, though, she was a little more skeptical of the leaders of the nation of Panem. If they had poisoned the food, who knew what else might be going on right now? Even at this very moment, there might be any number of mutts stalking her.

 _Was_ the food safe to eat? It wasn't clear, but she decided that she had to take some risks in life. And so, she found a golden delicious apple inside an international orange bag, the color of the Golden Gate bridge. After taking a bite out of it, it still tasted pretty normal.

Some things didn't change. But one thing was clear; Glory was no longer going to trust the Capitol blindly. If she came to have faith in them, it would be through evidence, and rational inquiry into whether or not her food was safe.

* * *

The anthem started up. Garnet had managed to take the Italian restaurant, and, now that the Careers were disbanded, it seemed that he was in the best position out of any tributes remaining. As he munched on the rest of his chicken parmesan sandwich, he watched the death recap being played in the sky. He knew that Twilight had died, and so had Karla. Good, one more member of the Underdog Alliance was gone. He didn't know if the rest of them were still hanging on or not.

The one he was most surprised to see was Flyte. Garnet had been under the impression that the District 12 boy had had more staying power than that.

Whatever. He was gone now, and Garnet was better off for it. That was what he told himself, and Garnet was becoming more and more convinced that that was true.

Eight left. He was in the home stretch, Garnet told himself. He was in the home stretch.

* * *

Preston hadn't expected to make it this far. His will to live had seemed to override everything, and now he was in the top third. He half-expected Caesar Flickerman to announce a feast or something, but he was sorely disappointed. Nothing had been announced, and Preston was becoming convinced that nothing good was going to happen in order to change anything with regards to the Games.

All he had left was Ethan. As Preston lay down underneath one of the long tables in the restaurant, he tried to get to sleep. The sooner he could get to sleep, the better rested he would be for the morning, and that was when things would really get real.

* * *

 **RIP Flyte, Karla, and Twilight**

 **Flyte: He was originally going to go a little earlier, but he managed to hang in there, and I am glad for that. It was very interesting to write his romance with Gleam, which, as I have said before in her obituary, just came to me when I was lying in bed, during that 30-45 minute grace period before you fall asleep and are free to think about anything you want, often forgetting where you are. Anyway, I enjoyed his character. He was a big, tough guy, but he was also kind and merciful, not wanting to kill unless it was absolutely necessary. It was _Gleam_ who saved him from Memphis in the beginning, in fact! I always pictured him as looking like Nick Jonas or Jefferson Bethke, and the face claim on the blog got it perfectly correctly. The creator of Flyte, who was the same person who created Miri for my first SYOT, requested not to get another Bloodbath tribute. And I am glad to have delivered on that.**

 **Karla: She was always one of my favorites. For one, I have a close relative whose name is Carla, although she spells it differently. In any case, I enjoyed her cute personality, and I also liked writing her brother-sister relationship with Taysom, which was also something I created just to spice up the story a little more. I am glad that she lasted as long as she did. I can't find too much else to say about her, though, so I guess I'll just move on.**

 **Twilight: Ah, her. She was the third and final tribute of Peyton's, who she submitted to me. I enjoyed Twilight's personality, as well as her background. If you guys have seen my favorites list, you'll know that I like medical stories a lot, so Twilight appealed to me. I enjoyed the scene where she is trying to start an IV for the first time, as I think that is one of her defining character moments. I loved her character arc, which was essentially from volunteering for the Hunger Games despite hating to see people die, becoming an important member of the Career pack, saving the life of Garnet, and then getting betrayed by him. The nurse killed by her patient. That's just how it went.**

 **Sorry it was so short, but that was the note that I wanted to end this chapter on. The next one will be longer, I promise.**

 **SnowLucario out.**


	24. Coat Hangers

**The chapter title, after a few seconds of thinking about it, just came to me. There are three reasons, and if you want to know them, just PM me.**

 **This is another short chapter, not even breaking 4,000 words. But you will see that there is a good reason for that. Also, we have reached 100,000 words and 100 reviews!**

 **We are getting close to the end. This is not the climax of the Games, but it is close. I hope that you enjoy everything contained within this chapter.**

 **I hope that we can reach 120 reviews by the end of the story. I think it'll end up around 120,000 words or so, so I hope you enjoy that. In my next story, which will be a Star Fox one, I hope that many of you will stay and follow that story as well, reviewing it regularly and telling me what you like in it or not.**

 **In any case, it is time to begin the chapter! After all, we need to finish _this_ story first!**

* * *

Dax woke up in the middle of the night. He didn't know what was going on at first. Normally, he was able to sleep all the way until the morning. Even in the arena, he had been able to keep on snoozing, except for when cannons went off.

Was it as a result of what he had done? Was he feeling guilty over killing Flyte? Well, that was certainly possible, although it was not likely that that was the reason that he had woken up so early. It had to be no later than four in the morning, given just how pitch-black it was out here.

And then, he realized what he had woken up for. He needed to use the restroom. There were no bathrooms out here, and so he needed to go and look for some patch of grass that would muffle the noise of urinating as much as possible. The last thing he wanted was for another tribute to hear him. He didn't think that anyone else would possibly be up at this hour, much less within a mile of his specific location within the northeastern forest, but he could never be a hundred percent certain.

Dax stood up and immediately realized that it was cold here. Although it had been quite warm during the days, at this ungodly hour of the morning it could not have been more than forty-five degrees Fahrenheit. Dax's breath made visible clouds in the black air, showcasing this fact. The Gamemakers must have been altering the temperature, raising it during the days and lowering it during the nights.

Dax wished that he could have gotten a Thneed, but he knew that the factory had been destroyed. If he could find a clothing store within the city, then that would really help a lot at night. However, at the moment, it was too dark to even ascertain the correct way to get there. This wasn't looking good for him.

Finally, Dax managed to find a patch of grass that was deeper than the rest. This was the place. He did his business and then tried to find where he had stayed the previous night.

He realized, however, that he couldn't find it. It was far too dark, and yet he needed a way to stay warm. That was the only way he was going to be able to survive, so he needed to take that as his course of action. And so, he scaled a tree and began to work on his blanket.

He would rather have gone to a clothing store in the city and found some furs, but he knew that it was far too dark to be able to see where he would need to go.

Unfortunately, he soon came to realize that it took a long time to make a blanket out of Truffula tufts, a _very_ long time. To make matters worse, Dax had not fully realized just how late it was.

It was so late at night that it was rolling over into the next morning, as evidenced by the sky starting to turn from black to navy blue. This was a telltale sign of it beginning to become morning again, which Dax rarely saw due to being such a late riser. Because of that, he had not been paying attention to the signs of dawn.

At this point, Dax knew that if he did manage to complete work on his blanket (which he had made little progress on for the last two hours or so), it would be inconsequential due to the fact that morning was coming, and fast. Even now, he could see a few reddish-purple streaks on the horizon. It was getting light.

With the light getting a little better, he knew that he could now tell where the city was. His objective was now to find a clothing store, so that he could find a fleece for the next night. That wouldn't be too bad, because there were probably a lot of them in the smoggy metropolis. The best part was that he didn't have to worry about paying for anything, because this was the Hunger Games, and if you decided to pay, you _would_ pay, except with something that money couldn't buy.

* * *

Brett had gotten an early start to the day. He was still in the hospital room where he had cleaned up his wounds from Glory, and they were no longer hurting. Unfortunately, he no longer had a weapon, so he would have to find something else in order to defend himself and kill off the other tributes.

He needed to be prepared for a battle, so that was precisely what he was going to do. If he could find a restaurant, then there would most definitely be knives there, and while he wasn't exactly the very best with the weapons, he could defend himself with them, if not attack well.

Brett left the hospital and turned down the same street from which he had come yesterday. He didn't know if Garnet was still in the same Italian restaurant that they had fought in yesterday, but he considered it as a distinct possibility. In which case, he needed to be prepared. According to the clock at the hospital, it was only a little after five in the morning, so Garnet was most likely still asleep.

If Garnet was in the same place, Brett could put him in his place. Of all the other tributes remaining, he considered the District 1 boy the greatest threat. After all, he had scored a 10 in training. Preston was also a problem, and, by extension, Dax as well, but he still considered the only other remaining male Career as the most dangerous player left.

And, of course, Glory. Who knew where she was at this point?

Brett took a deep breath, not sure what he was going to do. He was standing right outside of the Italian restaurant. If he walked inside, and Garnet was asleep, he might wake him in trying to slit his throat. If Garnet was awake, then Brett Mason was a dead man. His district would never hear the end of it.

And yet, Brett didn't care about the rest of his district. Really, the only thing that mattered at this point was his own survival, and getting back to District 2. Marrying Estonia, and then starting a family, was definitely on his bucket list. And in order to make the items on his bucket list a reality, he had to avoid kicking the bucket.

So, was this really the right decision?

Brett came to the conclusion that it was, opening the door as quietly as possible.

Garnet was lying, asleep, on top of two of the tables that he must have put together in order to use as a makeshift bed. Brett didn't know how deep his sleep was, so he would need to be careful not to wake this sleeping dragon. That was essentially the way he saw things.

Brett didn't know where he would find the knives, but his best guess was in the kitchen somewhere. He tiptoed, knowing that if the balls of his feet touched the ground, he was going to be heard by Garnet, he'd wake up, and then it was Game Over. Even in his sleep, Garnet was clutching his spear as if he was going to get Brett through the heart if he woke up, which was most likely the case.

Brett searched the drawers in the kitchen for knives. Eventually, he found three sharp bread knives. These were not the type normally used for throwing, but that was what Brett was going to do. After all, that was the best he could find.

At this point, he would literally have to saw through Garnet, but that would most definitely wake the other boy up. Even if the wound turned out to be fatal, the District 1 boy would be able to kill Brett before succumbing to his injuries.

Could he kill Garnet before that happened? Brett sure as hell hoped so, and he couldn't afford to be wrong. If he was mistaken about being able to kill Garnet, he was about to pay the ultimate price, he knew it.

Brett held the knife above Garnet's neck, ready to chop through and sever the connection between his head and his body.

Fortunately for Garnet, he woke up at this sound. He immediately realized that he was under attack, and if he didn't do something quickly he was about to be murdered by a fellow Career.

Garnet tipped his "bed" over, causing the table to fall on Brett's feet. The District 2 boy swore audibly as he felt his feet get injured by the weight that was now on them. But there was still the fact that he needed to flee or fight Garnet to the death.

Brett managed to hike the table up in order to block Garnet's spear. Then, it appeared as though the District 1 boy was doomed. Brett was about to congratulate himself on a victory against a more skilled opponent, but Garnet wasn't done yet.

Garnet held his spear above the table and began to drive it into his skull. Brett got out of the way in time, though, and so the spear sank into the floor. Garnet was about to pick it out of the ground, but then the worst thing that could possibly happen, happened. It broke, and that meant that Garnet no longer had a weapon with which to defend himself.

Now, _Brett_ was on the offensive. He raised his bread knife, once again attempting to cut right through Garnet's body. However, the other boy was ready. Garnet retreated quickly into the kitchen and grabbed five knives from the same place that Brett had. He was ready to claim yet another kill. And then, Brett got physical. That is to say, more physical than he had already been.

Brett used the table to bash into Garnet. It caused him to get knocked to the floor, but the other boy was quick to recover. Garnet threw another knife at Brett, barely missing his forehead. If it hit his brain, he was dead, enough said. Brett swung the table around like a Frisbee, but Garnet was nimble on his feet.

The District 1 Career jumped onto the table as Brett was swinging it. However, this backfired when he fell off onto his back. He didn't think he had broken anything, although the pain was terrible.

Garnet roared. He tried to get up, but Brett held the knife above him. In that moment, Garnet saw everything that had happened before this. His living back in District 1, training for the Games, eating in the Capitol, killing tributes, getting hooked up to an IV by Twilight...it all came flashing before his eyes.

He knew, irretrievably, that this was the end. Brett Mason, a far less worthy Career, was about to finish him off. He would place 8th in the Hunger Games, which ultimately didn't matter. Anything other than first and you were _dead._

And then, Brett used the knife. This time, Garnet was paralyzed from the pain, and could do nothing as Brett sawed through his neck over a period of twenty seconds, although he blacked out around eight seconds into that.

Finally, Brett was done. The head of Garnet Golds had been completely parted from its body, and the cannon fired. Seven tributes were now left, and Brett's odds had just improved by no small amount. He knew that he could win this, now. He really could.

* * *

Preston heard the cannon, but he wasn't too worried. After careful examination of the area around the restaurant, he saw that it was nowhere near him. This was pretty good news for him, but was it one of the Careers who had died? Garnet, or Glory, or Brett for that matter? He sure as hell hoped that it was, because that improved everybody's odds if Garnet was gone. After all, he had been the only one to score a ten.

Right now, Preston was leaving the restaurant after having gathered ten throwing knives. They weren't necessarily designed for throwing, but Preston knew that he might be able to use them for this purpose. He wanted any weapon that he could get his hands on, so after some target practice he was ready to get things going.

After Preston walked out of the restaurant, he took a left turn down the road. What he didn't expect, however, was that there was another tribute behind him.

Paolina had just taken the fire escape out of her apartment, trying not to be seen. In hindsight, this might not have been the best way to remain undetected, but she had managed to do it.

Right now, she was looking at the whole scene from on high, trying to see what she could see about what was going on with the other tributes. She didn't want to get spotted, however, because she was still not willing to kill. That fact remained very important to her, because she was going to cling to her moral values all the way until she took her last breath.

* * *

It had been a sleepless night for Taysom. He knew, however, that it he had brought it entirely on himself. He should not have insisted that he was the only one on watch, but after seeing what Noelle had done to Karla, he couldn't trust her with his life. She would have to earn his trust back, and it wasn't going to be easy. But he was open to giving it back.

He wondered often over the night whether or not he had made the right decision. The reason his aunt and uncle had not liked Taysom was largely due to the fact that they believed his father to be responsible for the fire that had killed part of Taysom's neighborhood of District 7.

They hadn't been able to forgive him, and so Taysom had decided to do something that his aunt and uncle, apathetic as they were, would never have done.

He knew that Noelle had only killed Karla out of paranoia, over being one of the ten tributes remaining. Maybe she hadn't been completely right in the head at that moment, so Taysom was deciding to give her the benefit of the doubt. Whether or not he lived (or died) to regret it remained to be seen.

On the sixth morning, Taysom had dozed off in the early hours. It wasn't on purpose, but he could have put both himself and Noelle in serious danger if any other tributes happened to be nearby. It was just lucky that that hadn't happened.

It was the sound of a cannon being fired that woke him up. Noelle was already up, looking very worried.

"Taysom! When I heard that cannon, I thought it was you at first, because I had just woken up!" she exclaimed, her teeth chattering.

"Yeah, well, I'm fine" Taysom said, through gritted teeth. "What I want to know is, how mad are you at me for falling asleep on watch?"

"Not that much" Noelle said.

Noelle went over to one of the backpacks still lying near the middle of the Cornucopia, a large army green one that appeared to contain food, a lot of it. She grabbed an orange and began peeling it.

"Oh, you already want to eat breakfast, don't you?" Taysom said, almost in a way that sounded like he was teasing her. In actuality, he was doing nothing of the sort, but he figured that since he had been nice enough to forgive and re-align with Noelle, he deserved to tease her a little if he wanted to.

"Yeah" Noelle said.

Taysom rose out of one of the sleeping bags that had been left at the horn and walked over to the backpack. He found a large honey crisp apple in it. It looked perfectly shiny and clean, so he took a large bite out of it. _This_ was what he needed after staying up for most of the night on watch!

"So...how long are we going to stay together?" Noelle asked the District 7 boy as he continued to munch on the apple.

"I don't know. There _are_ only seven left. Maybe we'll wait until five, or until after another Career is gone".

"That could have just happened now" Noelle said.

"Well, we won't find out until tonight if that was the case" Taysom replied. "We _did_ just get back together yesterday, so I think that we should keep it that way for a while. I do trust you, you know. You wouldn't kill me in my sleep, would you?"

"No way" Noelle said.

"Good" Taysom said. In truth, he of course did not trust her enough to allow her on watch, but he wanted to make her think that he did. There was an old saying that you wanted to keep your friends close, but keep your enemies closer. Since Taysom did not know for certain which one Noelle was, he decided to keep her the closest of all. He wanted to stay with her as long as possible.

"Who do you think died an hour or two ago?" Noelle asked the older boy. The truth was, Taysom had not given too much thought into what might have happened. The most likely answer, of course, was that they simply had no way of knowing until that night.

* * *

Dax had managed to make it through until morning, and now made it into the city. He hoped that nobody would be guarding the clothing store, not that he thought that likely. Dax made sure that he had his scythe ready at all times, just in case someone like Garnet was there with his spear.

He entered the clothing store. The whole reason he was here was so that he could find something warmer to wear during the night. If he could not beat the cold, he could not beat the other tributes. It was that simple, and that complicated at the same time.

Dax began searching for what he wanted. Something lightweight, so that he wouldn't get too tired from being forced to carry it around everywhere. He would have liked a sponsor for sure, but the problem was that nobody seemed to want to do it.

Not like he could blame them. Even with seven tributes left, he just _knew_ that he couldn't win. After all, there was the fact that he would be far too obvious a winner after Aurora the previous year. And there was also the fact that, if he would have been sponsored, it would most likely have been earlier in the Games, when gifts were less expensive. What bought a full meal on day one would buy half an apple on day 6. It might have been even more expensive here, since tributes had easy access to food, running water, and many other commodities.

Dax could at least be grateful for that much, but he still knew that he wanted clothing. So that was what he was doing. Searching among racks and racks of fabrics of various colors, he thought of how much the boy from District 8, Jasper, would have liked it here. It was too bad for him that he had never gotten to enjoy it.

He had come across a blue wool sweater. Dax hated wool, because it was so itchy. He decided to look more among the sweaters, in case there was another material that was making sweaters here. He really, really hoped so.

As Dax moved a sweater to the side, his fingers touched something metal. It wasn't the rack that the clothing had been on, because it felt sharper than that.

A weapon.

Dax moved more clothes out of the way. And what he saw was a long, ancient Greek sword, the type that was used for killing people (not that swords were really supposed to be used for anything other than that).

He backed out of the way, but it was too late. Glory Asphodel had seen him, and what was more, she had been hiding out here the whole time, lying in wait for an unsuspecting tribute to come along and try to find a sweater to wait out the increasingly cold nights.

The District 1 girl jumped out of her perch, landing loudly on the ground. She didn't seem to be hurt, however. Dax used his scythe to try to defend himself, knowing that he really, _really_ wanted to lose this fight. Flyte had been bigger and probably more formidable than Glory, after all. If he could overcome Flyte Warsaw, surely Glory Asphodel shouldn't be a problem, right?

 _Right?_

Glory sheathed her spatha, which was even more dangerous a weapon than Dax had thought at first. One good blow would most likely be enough to finish him off, so he had to be careful to get rid of Glory as quickly as possible. His scythe might have been a good weapon, but it had a major drawback, that being that its blade was short and curved, unlike Glory's, which was three feet long, half as long as Dax was tall.

Dax swung his scythe. It cut Glory in the side, but not too seriously. As in, it barely made a dent. That was when Dax realized that she was wearing a thick sweatshirt that she had found in the store. She must have been expecting this battle, or else she would probably become very hot unless this place had air conditioning.

Glory tried not to let that small amount of pain faze her. Even with everything else, she did have the upper hand here, and that was the important thing to remember. She once again swung her sword at Dax, missing him by inches. They kept on going, blocking each other's blades, until Glory was finally disarmed. Her spatha flew twenty feet away. There was no way that she would be able to reach it before Dax cut her down. She was doomed to die here, in seventh place, on the sixth day of the Hunger Games.

Even in spite of this, Glory kept a calm demeanor. She spoke, in a slightly seductive tone:

"You wouldn't kill me, would you?"


	25. Things Fall Apart

**Another very short chapter, but I wanted to end it on this specific note. Hopefully, that is okay with you. The title comes from the novel _Things Fall Apart_ by Chinua Achebe, which I just finished reading for school. It's about a Nigerian village in the early 20th century that is overrun by Christian missionaries. As the great-great-grandson of missionaries, it really does make me think. Highly recommended. **

**It is now time to resolve this cliffhanger that I created. I hope that you will not kill me for that, because it really is my best attempt to make the story exciting and to keep you guys reading.**

 **I put two Mario Party 5 boards on my YouTube channel, and I have recorded a third. I am also hoping that you guys will check those out, because it takes a while to make them. And Labyrinth is close to 5,000 views now, so I hope that we can reach that number. I don't know how hard it will be, but we shall see.**

* * *

Time seemed to freeze in the clothing store as Glory lay on her back, completely vulnerable to get killed by Dax. It wasn't as though she had no recourse at all; she could crawl, kicking and screaming, back to her spatha. It might have been a full twenty feet away, but Glory was determined to get to it, even if it did turn out to be impossible.

She'd been serving the Capitol faithfully for eight years, ever since they had removed her from her home to place her in the community one. She was going to do one last thing for them, going down fighting against Dax. She still, desperately, wanted to let the Capitol enjoy seeing her even if they had not proven to be as trustworthy as she had initially thought.

"I _would_ kill a girl, if I really needed to" Dax said sternly. He raised his scythe once again, ready to plunge it into Glory's heart.

However, the older girl was ready. When Dax came out swinging, Glory slid backwards on the floor until her head touched a long metal object.

Thankfully, she wasn't hurt. It was the spatha that she had managed to reach once again. Holding it up to defend herself against Dax's blows with the scythe, she quickly stood up before making a jab at him with her sword. Dax had to jump out of the way to avoid it.

Glory cackled with glee and relief. Now, she had the upper hand. All she needed to do was to dispatch Dax, and then she'd be in the final six among only one or two other Careers.

But Dax wasn't going to give up so easily. Even as Glory had these fantasies, Dax managed to hit Glory in her left arm. Thankfully, she was right-handed, and she wasn't losing too much blood out of it. As for infection, they'd give her something back in the Capitol if she won. _When_ she won, she reminded herself. There was no way that the Games could last much longer than this.

The wound on her arm made Glory give a small yelp in pain, but she didn't let that faze her. She was still on the winning side of this battle. Dax was foolish not to run away right now. Everyone knew that Glory Asphodel was the best swordswoman in Panem, at least this year. She was going to win!

Dax was still not giving up, but Glory was just at too much of an advantage to allow him to win this fight. With one swift sweep of her sword, she managed to cut Dax in half, just like the wheat that he was so accustomed to cutting down. He thought no more as he hit the ground, blood splattering everywhere.

The cannon fired to signal the death of Dax Baylor. Glory then stood up straight, gave a yell of triumph, and ran out of the clothing store, intent on finding more targets.

* * *

The final six.

Less than a week ago, all twenty-four tributes were still alive. Now, only a quarter of them remained.

Preston was glad to be a part of that group. As long as he was still in the Hunger Games, he still had a chance to come out alive and keep his promise to Ethan Veneables. He knew that he would need this determination to get him all the way to the end, and it wouldn't help him to worry too much.

Despite this, however, he did worry. He did have his ten knives from the restaurant, but he had to carry them in his pants pocket, while having one or two in his hands the whole time just in case he ended up having to defend himself against an enemy tribute. He didn't like this, because it meant that he made a lot of noise while he was running, the silver jingling in his pocket.

Noise was one thing that you didn't need in the Hunger Games.

Preston was going to wait out the Games in an apartment, he decided. After all, they had to be getting close to the climax of it all. And the Gamemakers would not want things to become too boring, so he'd have to leave eventually.

But right now, Preston was good with his plan. He found a building that suited his purposes and climbed twelve flights of stairs before he could find a door that could be opened. Perhaps the Gamemakers were reducing the number of available apartments as the number of tributes dwindled. Preston wouldn't be surprised; it wouldn't be the first time that the Gamemakers did something like that.

It was almost dinnertime, Preston realized. The day sure had gone by fast. Soon, the anthem would play. Then, he would find out who the two tributes who had died today were. He was really hoping that one of them was Garnet or Noelle, because they were the main threats. Preston didn't think for a second that Noelle had actually earned such a high score, but instead was a rebel or something.

He had no way of knowing this, so he decided to get it out of his head.

* * *

Paolina had been sitting on the roof of the building all day. She was mainly trying not to cry, but at the same time she knew that she wasn't going to give up on the Games.

She'd fallen asleep once, but been woken up by the cannon for the tribute who came in seventh place. It wasn't hard for her to fall asleep, since she hadn't been drinking too much water. It felt much like it had when she was sick, back at home in District 9. Unfortunately, her parents weren't here right now to give her chicken noodle soup, not that she even had a fever as far as she knew.

And then, she remembered her sponsor gift from the other day. And that was the lock on the canal.

Without warning, Paolina burst out into tears. She wept for herself, her few friends back in the Wheatlands, but most of all her family. She knew that if she didn't manage to get back to them, her parents would never get over it. They would always be looking for someone to blame, even though it was obvious who they would have to blame for her death. The Capitol.

Always the fucking Capitol.

* * *

The anthem came on about two hours later, and that caused different reactions in the tributes.

Glory was pleased to see her district partner, Garnet, shown in the sky. It was not just that he had disbanded the Career alliance far earlier than necessary. He had been her greatest threat. She had sure thought so, and Garnet Golds had thus had to go. She had not, of course, been surprised to see Dax in the sky, for it had been her to kill him.

Brett was also glad that Garnet was gone, but it was not as though it had not been obvious to him; after all, he had killed the District 1 boy. That only left Glory as the other Career left. That was, unless you counted Preston, which Brett didn't. Even so, he wondered why the District 5 boy had volunteered for the Games. That Ethan kid must have been one of his best friends or something. That was the only thing that would have made sense, at least in Brett's eyes. Or else, he really had wanted to be in the Hunger Games and bring glory to his district.

Preston was in the final six. He could hardly believe it, and yet he was only five spots away from getting back home to District 5, to his family, to the theater, and to Ethan. He figured that they would be proud of him for making it this far, and that without killing anybody. That would definitely be something that he could hang his head on come the end of the Games, assuming that he was still alive.

Paolina was still alive, despite everything. She sized up all of her threats. The Careers were all very deadly, so they were the tributes who posed the biggest threat, still, to Paolina. Luckily, she had kept her innocence intact as she coasted through the Hunger Games. The sponsor gift she had received before made that a little bit harder, though. She wished that that would not have happened, but what could she do now?

* * *

Taysom and Noelle had managed to rebuild a tentative trust as they settled in for their sixth night in the arena. It wasn't that deep, but they could still be aligned with each other once more.

Noelle had insisted that she would be able to stay up on watch and let Taysom sleep. After all, with only six left, it looked as though it was dangerous out there. And the District 7 boy could really use some rest after staying up for most of last night.

Despite this, Taysom refused to crawl into his sleeping bag. On the outside, he acted like this was purely altruistic in nature. However, there was a much darker reason for this, one that he would not dare tell Noelle.

He still didn't trust her enough. It was easy enough for _her_ to trust Taysom, because _he_ hadn't been the one to kill the District 7 girl, Karla Sawden. So Taysom, just like the previous night, was going to stay up once again.

For the most part, the night was uneventful. Not a single sound pierced the forest, and Taysom was beginning to feel a little complacent.

But then, it happened, what must have been a lit

The sound of a large gust of wind came through the arena, despite Taysom not feeling it, maybe simply because they were sheltered by the Cornucopia.

Noelle woke up. "What is _that_?" she asked.

Taysom didn't have an answer. All he could do was watch incredulously.

"Is it time to split up? Final six?" Noelle asked.

"No. Not yet. There are still two Careers left. Let's get rid of one of them first. I don't want to kill you, after all".

Noelle nodded, although she looked scared yet curious, like a little girl asking her mother if storms were just when God got angry.

And then, that was when the event occurred.

All of the trees in the forest fell down like a run of dominoes.

* * *

 **RIP Garnet and Dax**

 **Garnet: Since he was submitted by the same person who won the last SYOT, I wasn't going to let him win. With that said, I think that he was almost like another Horatio, except his arrogance was largely a lot lower, mainly because of his prowess. Unlike Horatio, who really was more bark than bite except when he killed his two remaining allies, Garnet was a very formidable opponent, and I will miss him a lot. I also liked writing him as a horrible person in general, though. He might not be too arrogant, but the fact remains that Twilight, who practically saved his life just two and a half days earlier, was killed at his hand. It takes a special kind of asshole to betray the person who dragged your semiconscious, severely dehydrated ass to the hospital in the middle of the night! I really loved writing that battle in the Italian restaurant, as well as the next one, in which Garnet lost. He definitely did go down fighting for the Capitol, even if he died in such an awful way.**

 **Dax: I give beauthg03 the main credit for this character in these Games, even though his being here was my idea. I got the idea from Carson and Bentley Rivera from the Hoprocker trilogy. Including references to the 63rd Games throughout the whole thing was also something that I am glad to have had the pleasure of doing. There is no doubt that I will miss writing for him, although to be honest there was never any chance that he was going to win, partly because I submitted him, and partly because he would be far too obvious of a winner. Now, he gets to be with Aurora again, in whatever comes after you die.**

 **By the way, Lorax just reached 3,000 views this afternoon!**

 **With that, we are approaching the end of the story! The next chapter is going to be SUPER long.**


	26. The Final Phase

**In case you're wondering where I got the names, I put my name and my brother's name in the Hunger Games name generator.**

 **I know this chapter is much longer compared to the others. It's going to make you laugh, cry, shudder, and experience all sorts of other emotions that you never knew even _existed._ This story is now longer than Labyrinth, so there is that.**

 **Also, Labyrinth is only five views from reaching 5,000!**

* * *

It was about ten in the evening in the Capitol, but it was three hours later, in a location well over four thousand miles south of here, where the final six tributes were fighting for their lives. The city was in an uproar, on the edges of their seats. Since the Games occurred over most children's summer vacation, they didn't have to worry about getting ready for school in the morning. As such, many parents allowed their boys and girls to stay up much later than usual, especially at such a late stage as these.

That was the case for Magnus Naysmith, a sixteen-year-old boy from the Capitol suburb of Glitterton. He was normally diligent with being ready for classes in the morning, except for during summer. Even though he was still so young, he was just as excited about the Hunger Games as his parents were.

Right now, his hair was dyed a minty chartreuse color, and he was sitting on the couch in their home. Mr. and Mrs. Naysmith had told him that he had to get to bed at midnight, or else he wouldn't be allowed to play video games for a week. And so he was going to be obedient.

"There are six left" his older brother, Septimus, said. "I wonder who is going to win, or rather, go out next".

Septimus was eighteen years old, working two jobs during his gap year before college. He knew that he was going to go to a private, very prestigious school in District 4, but he wanted to have a year off, gather some experience in the Capitol's workforce (which he had wanted to join despite the fact that very few people actually _needed_ to make money in the Capitol), before he got his degree.

"I don't have any idea who it'll be" Magnus said. "I mean, I sure as hell hope that it isn't _Paolina_. And God forbid Brett wins, either, that little slob! He makes District 2 look like District 12, for fuck's sake!"

"Magnus! Language!" his mother coaxed him.

"I'm sorry" Magnus said. "But, seriously, guys, I really want Glory to win. Or Taysom. Yeah, my money's on Taysom, even though I've never had any money of my own".

Mr. Naysmith worked as a Gamemaker, although he only worked three-hour shifts. He typically did not view the training sessions, so he really did have a minor role. Despite this, money was not an issue for them, or for very many people in the Capitol at all. The Naysmiths were always glad to live in the Capitol, where none of their children would die in the Hunger Games.

"I don't think Taysom will win, Magnus" Mrs. Naysmith said. "He's just too nice of a person. And trusting Noelle again is going to be his last and biggest mistake that he has made in these Games. After killing Karla, I'm sure that she's going to kill him in a second!"

That, of course, didn't mean too much in the Capitol. Which outer-district tribute won was rarely a concern for the people, it was really more a question of which Career won. The Hunger Games was often viewed as only having five or six players instead of twenty-four, because the winner of the Games was, more than half the time, a member of the Career alliance from the very beginning. There was just no way around that, and so the Capitol citizens had begun to see a pattern in how the Games worked.

Just then, the doorbell rang, so Septimus went up to get it. It was the pizza that they had ordered an hour earlier. Normally, Pontius's Pizza only took twenty to thirty minutes to deliver, but it must have been extra busy tonight due to the fact that they were approaching the climax of the Games.

As Magnus took a slice of pepperoni and pineapple, he said, "The reason that I don't want Paolina to win is because she has no kills. She's done pretty much nothing of note throughout this whole time, and yet she is in the top 25 percent of the tributes. They need to get her out!"

As Septimus bit into a slice of BBQ chicken pizza, that was when it happened.

"Wow, all the trees are going down!" Septimus exclaimed, chicken flying everywhere out of his mouth. He hadn't been expecting to see something like this happening.

As Magnus looked at the screen, he realized that his brother was right. As if they were being cut by invisible axes, the trees all went down, raising dust everywhere they hit the ground. The few that remained, after managing to stand back up, seemed to be charred and dull in color. Since it was the middle of the night down there, it was not easy to tell.

"They must be preparing for the climax of the Games" Magnus's father said. And then, he said something that made both of his teenage sons happy:

"You may stay up as late as you wish".

* * *

The sound of a large gust of wind came through the arena, despite Taysom not feeling it, maybe simply because they were sheltered by the Cornucopia.

Noelle woke up. "What is _that_?" she asked.

Taysom didn't have an answer. All he could do was watch incredulously.

"Is it time to split up? Final six?" Noelle asked.

"No. Not yet. There are still two Careers left. Let's get rid of one of them first. I don't want to kill you, after all".

Noelle nodded, although she looked scared yet curious, like a little girl asking her mother if storms were just when God got angry.

And then, that was when the event occurred.

All of the trees in the forest fell down like a run of dominoes. Being behind the Cornucopia, Noelle and Taysom were shielded from the worst of the dust that was kicked up as a result of this. That sure was something that could come in handy at times like this!

"Are they all trying to get us bunched up together?" Noelle asked.

"I'm not quite sure" Taysom said. For the second time in three minutes, the District 7 boy was at a loss for words. The truth was, the storm, if it really was that, could mean any number of things. Maybe things were getting too slow for the Capitol, or maybe the Gamemakers just wanted to spice things up a notch.

Either way, things weren't looking good for Taysom and Noelle. They might have been hanging on for a good while, now down to six, but he knew that it couldn't last forever.

Nothing ever did in the Hunger Games.

* * *

The long, long night whiled away slowly, for all of the tributes stayed awake. They had had no chance at getting back to sleep. Not after being woken up at one in the morning to the sound of the entire forest crumbling. The tributes tried to keep themselves as warm as possible, knowing full well that the night was cold, perhaps only a couple of degrees above freezing.

After the final six tributes, consisting of Glory, Brett, Paolina, Preston, Noelle, and Taysom, had managed to make it through the night, the sun finally rose as if to reward them for managing to survive the cold. It seemed as if the heating systems, or rather the systems that kept the hot daytime air and the cold nighttime air out of the apartments, as well as the other buildings in the city contained within the arena, were failing. Maybe this was another mechanism to force the tributes together.

All in all, the tributes were glad for morning. But with morning, came greater clarity and understanding of what had happened overnight.

* * *

As soon as the sun rose, Preston left his new apartment. It was about six in the morning, the normal sunrise time for this part of the world at this time of year. Preston knew that since they were near the equator, day length varied little throughout the year. This made things very convenient for how things were going in terms of the arena. Of course, he couldn't lose sight of his main goal. He wanted to make it so that his sacrifice for Ethan was ultimately not a sacrifice at all.

So far, it was working. Preston had yet to kill anyone yet, so he felt a certain sense of accomplishment that he had avoided that. Even if he didn't manage to return home to District 5, he could rest fairly easy in his grave knowing that he had at least done as much as he could to remain innocent.

He didn't know if he had beaten the others up, since the other five tributes who were still alive were also probably curious as to what had happened last night. It sure looked as though the trees had all fallen down, but he couldn't be completely sure.

It was only once he stepped outside that he realized just how much things had changed.

The sun was not shining, it only _seemed_ that way because the sky was gray, rather than black as it had been throughout the night. It seemed to be very cloudy, the sun being nowhere to be found.

However, it wasn't chilly by any means; on the contrary, the temperature must have been at _least_ ninety-five, and Preston was already sweating as soon as he was two blocks away from his building. By the time he crossed the bridge above the root beer river, he probably looked as though he had just had a very intense workout. At the moment, though, he didn't care. Not just because there was most likely no one near enough to see him, but also because of what _Preston_ was seeing.

The forest had indeed been leveled, just like it had seemed by the happenings overnight. However, the colors were not present anymore, not on the branches. Also, the trunks were still in the ground, but the trees that were still there, absent the leaves (some of which were strewn all over what used to be the forest floor), were completely charred like logs on a fire. The ground itself was ashen gray, not covered with lush green grass as it had been less than twelve hours.

In other words, it looked like something you would see in a movie where there had been a nuclear war. It did not look like anything that you would see in a Dr. Seuss book.

For Preston was aware of all of the Dr. Seuss books, having been read them many times as a child. He'd also known that a lot of them had overtly political themes based on the issues at the time. For instance, _The Sneetches_ was an allegory for racial segregation, and _The Butter Battle Book_ was based on the arms race between the United States and the Soviet Union during the Cold War. And _The Lorax_ was about environmentalism.

 _Of course,_ Preston thought. _The final phase._

Indeed, it was. And with that realization, all of the pieces in the puzzle came together in his head.

In the later parts of the story the Once-Ler is telling, the beautiful multi-colored forest is being bulldozed to make room for Thneed factories, which Preston should not have forgotten given that it had been only, what was it, three days ago since he had ventured inside of one of the replicas? And as the woods keep falling down, it gets more and more polluted. Preston remembered images of muddy ponds, of bears starving due to not having enough food, due to the Truffula trees being cut down.

That must be what was going on right now. The Gamemakers had decided that the arena was not tough enough already, because they knew that the end of the Hunger Games was no doubt getting very close. He wouldn't have been surprised if they were thinking just the same thing in the Capitol.

Preston continued to walk until he reached a very high hill, which he kept walking up, trying not to let too much smoke get into his lungs. The stuff was floating around occasionally, so it sure looked as though the Gamemakers were doing this, making the arena look like the place had looked at the end of that Dr. Seuss book.

He kept climbing, ready for an attack at any moment. That was probably the reason that they had collapsed the forest; attacks from other tributes were going to become a lot more likely, that was for certain. Preston needed to be on his guard at all times.

He still had six knives left, but they weren't the best for combat. They were the kitchen type, not the type that you were supposed to use to kill other people. If he ended up in actual battle with Glory or Brett, he would be in serious trouble, especially if he had to go on offense.

Preston had done some practicing back in the restaurant, but he still wasn't the best. He continued up the steep incline, stopping every thirty seconds to catch his breath. After his twentieth such break, he managed to reach the top.

He looked over the edge, and he couldn't believe what he was seeing.

* * *

Preston now knew that there had been five lakes, at least at the beginning of the Games. Now, looking down at the milky gray landscape, it was very much obvious what was happening.

The lake nearest him had not dried up. Rather, it had turned brown and was starting to form some kind of suction. Even as Preston watched, it was expanding slowly. This was pretty scary stuff. It looked like something you would see in a horror movie, but that was not something that would be unexpected at this late stage in the Games.

The boy from District 5 turned to run, but he was arrested at the sound of a voice. It was a very gruff voice, sounding like an elderly man who had just been woken up from a nap.

"Oi! What do you think you're doing, messing around here like this?"

Preston turned around at the source of the voice.

"No, I'm right here, you dolt!" the voice said again.

Now that Preston focused his sights on a specific point, he was able to tell that the voice was coming from a small orange creature on the ground. It looked just like the Lorax from the popular children's book. The only difference was, this Lorax was a less severe orange, almost yellow, and its hair on top was not bald but for a mustache. Instead, its hair was wavy, just like some guy from a history book.

Preston focused his powers on remembering what he had been taught about in Panemian History class. Something about presidents of the United States...yes, was it the 44th President? The 46th?

"We need...to...build...a wall...to...defend against the anti-environmentalists!"

Now, Preston knew _exactly_ who this Lorax was supposed to be imitating. It was Donald Trump, the 45th president of the United States. Of course. Leave it to the Capitol to come up with that.

"But that's not me!" Preston yelled. "I mean, I'm not against saving the environment! Not at all! I only _volunteered_ for this!"

"Why'd you do that, huh? I said, people like you are exactly the reason we need the wall!"

"I just wanted to save my friend back where I'm from! Aren't you the Lorax, by the way?"

Preston knew that was the wrong thing to say even two seconds after he said it. The Lorax got a look on his face that made Preston strongly suspect that he wouldn't live very long to regret it.

After what felt like an eternity, the little orange creature finally broke the deafening silence. "I'm not the Lorax...no, young one, I am what is known as a Trumpax. I speak for the trees, yes, but I also speak for companies. We'll make them huge, huge, _huge!"_

The Trumpax took a sniff of the air. "Yes...what district are you from? Don't answer me, now. I bet I know...you're Preston Wagner of District 5, right?"

"Uh...yeah" Preston said casually, having no idea in the world why the Trumpax cared what district he was from.

"Oh, people from Five are the worst! They're the ones who are always mining all the coal for their electrical power, and the ones who are always polluting the water. Don't they know better?"

At this point, the Trumpax was looking extremely agitated, and Preston knew that he had managed to get on this thing's bad side.

He didn't want to be on the Trumpax's bad side.

"If it helps, I didn't choose what district I would be brought up in. I never even was _interesting_ in anything having to do with power!" Preston was desperate now.

"You could remain completely sustainable, you know" the Trumpax said. "You could just avoid all of the global warming. But _no,_ you've got to make it so that global temperatures rose five degrees Celsius over the last century. And it'll only get worse from here. Yes, the human race is nearing the end".

"The people-" Preston started to say, but the Trumpax cut him off.

"The people in your country certainly aren't helping matters!" the Trumpax said angrily. "You're sending off one teenager of each gender to slaughter each other. That's not a sustainable practice. Not for the environment, not for the world's population, not for _anything!"_

"I know!" Preston shouted. "I'm one of those kids!"

The Trumpax seemed not to care. Instead, he just gave a cruel little laugh.

"Preston Wagner, I'm sorry to cut our time together short, but I'm afraid your time is getting cut a little bit short. I must go. Fuck you guys for polluting this _beautiful_ forest!"

And with that, the Trumpax grabbed its back and lifted off into the air, vanishing in a puff of smoke just like one of the villains in one of those old fairy tales.

Suddenly, Preston felt a weight around his ankles. He tried to step up, to get going again, but his feet would not budge. Realization struck him like a sixty-pound weight directly to the chest.

He'd been so captivated by the Trumpax that he hadn't paid attention to the ground, or even tried to run away. He didn't know if that would have mattered either way, but the fact remained that as he had been talking to the strange creature, the quicksand had begun moving up the hill towards him. The nearest lake had been on a little plateau that was only two hundred feet below where Preston was standing right now, so it was understandable that it could happen so quickly. But he'd only been talking to the Trumpax for about two or three minutes...right?

 _Right?_

Preston tried to remember the instructions that they always gave you for trying to get out of quicksand. They always said to try and lie on your back; that way, you would float and be able to crawl your way back to the edge.

So Preston tried that. He allowed himself to lie down somewhat, on his stomach, while still not putting his face in the thick mud. He didn't want that to happen.

Was this really the way it was going to end? Smothered by quicksand in what used to be a paradise, while still having six kitchen knives that he had not yet used.

This gave him an idea. Preston tried to slice away some of the sand from his body, but it was clear that this quicksand was not something that was designed to be escapable. That didn't mean that he couldn't find a way. He just had to keep his head above the sand, and then outlast the others. Sure, the quicksand would probably drain fluid from his body, but if he lasted longer than any of the others, they could treat him in the Capitol...right?

Of course, that sounded ridiculously unlikely. He had to play an active role in getting himself out of here, or else he might lose circulation, which would make things even worse. Granted, it was hard to see that things even _could_ get worse right now. Even now, he felt himself sinking a little deeper every ten seconds. It would probably take several minutes until he was smothered completely.

This was not going to be a pleasant way to go out. It kind of reminded him of the way Aurora Baylor, the older sister of Dax, had died, crushed between two walls, in the final hours of the previous Hunger Games.

Preston made yet another attempt to force himself out, but he was sinking deeper and deeper. Now, it was up to his thighs, and hardening further around his legs. At this point, it was like cement or concrete. He was worried that if he tried to step out, his legs would shatter. At the very least, he would lose his shoes, much like Buck McBride had twenty years ago (and then gone on to win the Games).

Finally, Preston realized that he was absolutely done. He'd had it. There was no getting out of this one.

 _I'm sorry, Mom and Dad. I tried to win, and I loved you very much. Hopefully, there is something else after this. I want to see you again, someday. I know that I should not have volunteered, but I just felt like I had to, so I hope you can forgive me for that._

 _I'm sorry, Ethan. I couldn't negate my sacrifice by winning the Games. I don't regret it, though. Make the most of your life, marry a hot girl, start a family._

 _I'm sorry, whatever talk show host would have taken me. You'll never get to hear the great Preston Wagner._

Even though he was now pretty much 100% positive that he was going to die, he made one last try at it. He didn't manage to get out.

All Preston could do was try to relax as the quicksand passed his belly, then his chest, and as his cheeks were immersed in it, he wondered if he could be able make some kind of ladder in the hardening walls of quicksand. No dice.

Finally, the floor gave out from underneath Preston, and he fell twenty feet. He thought that this might just have been his last saving grace, especially considering it was a soft landing.

The sky was now gray and cloudy, at least what little of it Preston could view through the ever-closing hole provided by the gap in the quicksand. But not only was that closing, so were the walls on either side of him.

 _Oh, great. History repeats._

And with that, Preston Wagner was slowly smothered by the quicksand. His last thought was, _I wonder if this is what Augustus Gloop felt like after falling into the liquid chocolate. It's the same color, as well._

 _Back to the earth..._

* * *

A cannon fired. There were only five tributes left, now.

This didn't surprise Paolina too much. She was still on top of her building that she had used the fire escape to climb up. It wasn't looking too good for her, or anybody else, she thought.

From this vantage point, Paolina was able to see the utter destruction that had been brought down upon the multicolored forest. Before, it had looked like a thriving paradise. Now, it looked like a ghostly desert, with trees charred black tipping to the side, small Truffula tufts hanging to the sides. She had a feeling that this had been the Gamemakers' doing, just like everything else in this arena.

They controlled everything.

Paolina wished that she could have escaped. However, as they were briefed on the Games, and after being loaded into the hovercraft that had taken them here, they had been told that there was no possible way that they could escape the arena. This was partly because of the trackers in their arms, and partly because of the force field that encircled the whole place. This really did look like her worst nightmare, made real.

And the scary part was, it looked just like the Wheatlands might. If the trees were the houses, especially the ones her parents had started the trend of burning down back in District 9, then the Wheatlands might look just like this.

And then, Paolina came to yet another realization. If the Capitol knew about her family being rebels, there was no way in the world that they would let her win the Hunger Games. They preferred likable victors, or Careers. Of course, those two groups could overlap sometimes, but very often they didn't.

 _Whatever. I'll still try,_ Paolina thought. And, when it came down to it, that was all she really _could_ do. She might not be able to promise everyone that she would win the Hunger Games, but she could promise that she would make every attempt to better her chances.

* * *

"Wow! Another cannon!" Noelle exclaimed.

This wasn't the childlike wonder that her words alone might have been intending to convey. This was something else entirely; more specifically, Noelle was sounding very frightened. After all, there were five tributes left. The pace of the Games was accelerating. At any moment, a bloodthirsty Career, either Glory or Brett, might come calling and manage to kill off one or both of them.

Taysom wasn't happy, either. "What if Brett and Glory have reformed the Career pack as well? Then, it's the two of them versus the two of us, and you _know_ that they'd cream us in a straight-up battle! We need to find Paolina, and pull her in!"

"I don't know" Noelle said. "Paolina certainly didn't seem like too much of a fighter to me. She seemed to want to stay neutral, back when we were scouting for members".

Taysom remembered that evening that felt like decades ago, while in reality it had only been two weeks since then. And, with that, he knew what he was going to have to do. He didn't like that idea, but anything necessary to win. But he pushed that thought to the back of his head. That would be too desperate of him to even think of doing, let alone actually carry out! What was he thinking? He'd be no better than Noelle!

 _Is it worth it? She killed my district partner, after all. And if I just kill her, I will have had my revenge. She'll wish that she had never trusted me again, and the best part is, she will have brought it all on herself! I can't believe it. That's the best idea I have ever, EVER had. Yes, that's what I'll do._

 _Noelle Withers, you are DEAD._

But then, Taysom considered some things. They might be at the final five, but it still paid to have an ally. He needed to have somebody in order to counter the Careers. If indeed they were acting as one unified force, rather than remaining disbanded and ready to kill each other at any moment if they met, then it made sense to stick together in order to have a chance.

If Taysom killed Noelle here, then he would have to find, and then convince to align with him, Paolina. Considering the size of the arena still, and the fact that Paolina was a known pacifist, that didn't seem very likely. And, even then, it would only be two against two. Glory and Brett could knock down both of them before turning on each other.

No, he had to stay with Noelle for now. Even so, he couldn't help but bring up that one very important question in the back of his mind; when should they split up in order to not end up being the last two tributes remaining?

"Hey, Noelle?" he asked.

The dark-skinned girl looked up at her ally, former enemy, former ally.

"I was wondering when you think we should split up. After all, there are only five tributes left. I don't want to end up having to kill you, so..."

Noelle's eyes began to blaze. "Are you thinking of _killing me_?"

Taysom took a step back defensively. She's _the one who killed Karla!,_ he thought. _She is being such a fucking hypocrite. I can't really trust her anymore. No, I REALLY cannot trust her right now._

"No, no, I never said I actually _w_ _anted_ to kill you!" he protested. "Why else would I have this conversation, if I really did want to be the one to end up killing you?"

Noelle looked unrepentant. Her dark eyes looked very, very livid. Again, Taysom didn't see why she should be so angry at Taysom even bringing the topic of turning on each other up, when she had already done that to Karla Sawden. Taysom's district partner had been like the younger sister he had never had to him. And Noelle had killed her!

Maybe it was time to pay Paolina a visit. As in, time to kill Noelle. It wasn't like he had any real need of her anymore. Taysom could take whatever he wanted from here, set himself up to be a major force going into the end of the Hunger Games. He didn't see a way that he could lose other than pure idiocy if he took everything from here and let the other tributes come to him. Glory, Paolina, Brett...bring it on.

"Because, I..." Noelle said. She started sobbing, but not in a sad way. These were angry tears, the kind that one might shed if they had just been cheated on by a significant other. She picked up her knife.

"I only killed her because I was so paranoid! And you know that, and you decided to forgive me. This should be a non-issue now. We're over with this subject. Done".

Taysom looked through the weapons rack for something he could use. Well, you knew what they said...fight fire with fire. Taysom grabbed a belt of throwing knives, ten in total. If it came to a fight, and all signs seemed to point to that right now, he could take her easily. She might have gotten a ridiculously high training score, but it was obvious that it was not through any merit of her own.

Noelle brandished her knife and went out swinging. She managed to create a cut on Taysom's left arm, but he was not going to give up that easily. He threw one, which hit Noelle in the stomach. She pulled it out, but she was already losing a lot of blood.

The District 11 girl tried to get Taysom again, but he was ready for it and stepped several feet to the side. He ended up almost falling into the dried-up lake that surrounded the Cornucopia. It was a good thing that he didn't, because then he would have been fodder for Noelle's sudden bloodlust.

As Noelle tried to stem the flow of blood from her stomach wound, Taysom was not going to waste the opportunity this provided. He landed a knife in her left wrist, causing her to move her arm away from her wound. This caused the blood to flow freely, now.

Noelle made another try at getting Taysom's heart, or even his brain. But, once again, the District 7 boy was prepared for all of her attacks. It was as if he had been studying her style from the very beginning, in the Training Center.

Taysom realized this, and he ended up laughing to himself. He was going to beat Noelle at her own game, and she would only have herself to blame. He would get his revenge!

He threw one more knife, this time angling it towards her hip. This would disable her very easily, allowing him to reach her head or chest, the parts that were pretty much dead zones for Noelle. If a knife hit either of those body parts, she was dead. Of course, the same was true for him as well, but Taysom knew he had the upper hand here. Noelle was wounded.

Noelle made one last-ditch effort to disable Taysom, but he wasn't going to let her. With one throw, he managed to plunge a knife directly into Noelle's brain.

She suddenly stood stock-still, looking betrayed, even though it had been clear to both parties that this had been a full-on fight, and so one of them dying was the expected outcome. After staring at her former ally for five seconds, she simply plunged to the ground, throwing up a lot of dust from the area surrounding the Cornucopia.

The cannon fired, but Taysom was in another world altogether. He was stuck on the fact that he had just killed another teenager, like himself.

Like _Karla._

He had told himself that he was only enacting his revenge for his recently deceased district partner, but the truth was, it really had been all about himself. And, when he thought about it, this should have been common sense to him. After all, how could it have been for Karla when she was dead, and being transported as he thought about this, in a simple wooden box, back up north to District 7 to be buried in the communal cemetery.

They would all hate Noelle, and they would all hail Taysom, whether or not he ultimately became the victor. But now Noelle was dead, at his hand.

The thing was, Taysom didn't feel guilty. This was paradoxical, because he _did_ feel guilty, for _not feeling guilty._ This made no sense at all to anyone except for Taysom. He knew that he should feel bad for killing Noelle, his former ally, but he just didn't. At the same time, however, he felt that he _should_ feel guilty.

Oh, well. That was none of Taysom's business. In the end, Noelle was just another enemy tribute who had gotten on the wrong side of Taysom. Any alliances were ultimately fake. That was the thing to remember here.

Taysom picked up a red backpack from the Cornucopia, knowing that he was now in the final four. He wasn't really going to align with Paolina, though, not even if he was lucky enough to find her. Or unlucky, depending on how you decided to slice it.

The District 7 boy, the last remaining member of the former Underdog Alliance, took a deep breath. Then, he decided to start heading for the city. That was what was going to be the best way to stock up and prepare for the final battle. He wanted to keep moving, or else he would probably be too lethargic to face the final battle.

That didn't end up mattering, though.

Because as soon as Taysom took his first step onto that dry lake bed, his foot went right through the ground.

* * *

Paolina was done with the city.

It had been getting more and more polluted throughout the day, and it wasn't going to be a pleasant place to remain for too much longer. The factory buildings might no longer have been there, but it was still smoking all over the place. A thick layer of smog permeated the whole place, including above the buildings, to the point that Paolina felt she might choke if she didn't get out of there.

And so, gagging at the taste and smell of the air, she made her way out of the city. She didn't know what she was looking for, what the Gamemakers were going after, where they were going to send the last four of them for the finale of the Games. She had no doubt that it was going to be soon.

When Paolina reached the lake with the Cornucopia, she saw that it had completely dried up. Except, not really. It appeared to be like...quicksand.

"Hey! Over here!" a voice shouted.

Paolina looked and looked until she saw the face of another tribute. It was the boy from District 7. Was he stuck in the quicksand? Yes, unless her eyes were deceiving her, that was what seemed to be the case.

"Can you help me?" Taysom yelled. He sure seemed desperate to get out of that quicksand, Paolina thought. And really, why wouldn't he be? Taysom was the one whose life was at stake here. If he sank under, he was dead. Paolina might not have known too much science, but even she understood that if you sank below quicksand and didn't get back up, you were _dead._

Paolina didn't know what to do. It wasn't going to be that easy to get Taysom out, but even so, why should she? Yes, she was a pacifist, but this would be taking an active role, and yet...oh.

If she didn't help Taysom out, she would be effectively killing him. But how could she, when he was fifty yards away from her? She would get stuck herself, and then they would both die, leaving it to the other two remaining tributes, whoever they were, to battle it out for the victor's crown.

"I'll help you on one condition, Taysom. I want you to form an alliance with me if you get out".

"Yes!" Taysom shouted. "I'll do whatever you want me to if you'll just let me escape this muck!"

Paolina didn't want to get herself hitched to another tribute so late in the Games. There were only four tributes left, after all. And, when it really came down to it, she just couldn't imagine herself killing another tribute. Even at the very end of the Games, that wasn't what was going to happen.

And then, a miracle happened.


	27. A Cut Above

**It's official: Labyrinth has reached 5,000 views! To celebrate, I post this final chapter of the Games. I hope that the ending is to your liking. It's between Glory, Brett, Taysom, and Paolina! Let's see what happens!**

 **Also, at least for a while, updates may be a little less frequent. Reason being, my grades are down a little, from A- average to B+ average. Since I'm from an Ivy League family, this is a big deal. I'm going to try to focus on my grades a little as Wing And A Scare begins.**

 **This chapter is on the short side, but I didn't want to drag things out too far.**

* * *

All of the water in the pools of quicksand drained out. Taysom was not stuck in the dirt, however; his large bodyfloated straight to the top. Paolina watched this incredulously, barely believing that he had gotten out of this Gamemaker trap without her help. Probably, they had decided that they didn't want one of the final four tributes dying in this method.

"Was that the Gamemakers?" Taysom asked, although Paolina didn't know if he was talking to her or not. Probably he was.

Now that Taysom was free of the quicksand, he was able to stand up and walk to the edge of the lake. He then stood straight up, looking at Paolina. Was he going to keep his deal with her?

Taysom had been desperate, not really caring whether or not he aligned with Paolina at all. He had just been focused with getting out of that pool of quicksand. Of surviving and becoming the victor. But, because of that happening, that might no longer have been possible.

"Okay" Taysom said. "Even though you didn't actually rescue me, I'll form an alliance with you. There are only four of us, though, so as soon as another tribute dies, we're going to separate. I _really_ don't want to end up killing you, or being killed _by_ you. So this is a temporary thing, right?"

Paolina really hadn't expected Taysom to agree to an alliance. Even so, she was glad to have someone that she might be able to trust just a little bit. This would be her first ally in a week, ever since the beginning of the Games.

Little did Paolina know, Taysom had killed Noelle after she had killed his district partner, Karla. Had Paolina been aware of that, she might not have agreed to an alliance with Taysom. But she saw herself as in this now, for better or worse. She was going to team up with Taysom against the two remaining Careers!

* * *

Glory had been behaving like a sloth for most of the day. She had not left her apartment ever since it had gotten light, and really, what reason did she have for leaving at all? It was absolutely disgusting outside, and the only possible purpose would be to go hunt down other tributes. She wanted to kill Brett and Taysom very badly, assuming they were still alive. Two tributes had bitten the dust earlier today, and she had no way of knowing who.

The District 1 girl brandished her spatha, ready for any fight that she might get in with Brett, the only other remaining Career. _If I can get rid of Brett Mason, the other two will be cannon fodder, whoever they are._

Of course, there was a possibility that Brett was dead. There _were_ only four tributes left in the arena, and this was most likely going to be the last day of the Hunger Games. It wouldn't make sense for it to be dragged on for too much longer, especially with only four kids left.

Glory left her apartment at 9:27 PM, at which point the gray sky had darkened to a color that was indistinguishable from #000000, pure black. Not only that, but smoke was filling the air even more now.

As soon as Glory stepped out of the building, she was struck by a coughing fit as she realized just how dirty this place had become. The Gamemakers really were trying to end this thing quickly. It wouldn't be long until they all died from this toxic air, at this rate.

She reflected once again on who was left in the arena. It was her, as well as any combination of three of the five of Brett, Noelle, Paolina, Preston, and Taysom. She could do this. After all, she had had far more years of training than Brett had, and the other tributes had most likely not trained _at all_ until they had arrived in the Capitol.

She had this in the bag. She knew it.

* * *

Ever since he had killed Garnet yesterday, Brett had stayed in the Italian restaurant, regaining his strength. Now that he had eaten his fill of chicken parmesan, pizza, and salad, he was feeling ready for action. He could sever Garnet's neck again. He could kill Glory and Taysom, as well as whoever else was left. Only four tributes were remaining, including him. The numbers really were going down quickly!

Brett made the decision to leave the restaurant and see what would come for him. He had no doubt that he would run into another tribute, now, with so few left. But that was just how things were going right now.

He readied his knives, ready for a fight with Glory, just in case she was the one closest to him. Even so, he was wary as he walked through the city, heading nowhere in particular. It felt good to be moving, at least. Doing _something_ to affect his fate in these Games.

Brett heard a noise. It sounded like it might be another tribute, but he didn't have any way of being able to figure out who it might be. He knew that he was one of the final four, though, so Glory might not be even in the Games anymore. But he still had to make sure, as long as there was even a chance that she was still alive.

No sooner had he had that thought than Glory Asphodel herself appeared around the corner, brandishing her spatha. He was ready to fight, though. He had five knives left, and he was going to make as much use of them as possible.

Glory went out swinging early, cutting Brett in the stomach. The District 2 boy cursed himself for being so careless, and now it looked like he was probably going to lose! And he was better than this. He knew it.

Brett flung his knife at Glory, landing in her ribcage. This caused her a great deal of pain, and she was forced to retreat, clutching at her stomach. Brett took this ten-second grace period as an opportunity to wale on her. It was looking a little better for him, now. He landed hit after hit on Glory's stomach, almost reaching her stomach if not for the fact that she was still guarding it with her arm.

However, Brett was ready. He managed to swing his fourth-to-last knife (which was all he wanted to waste until the final battle, which was likely to involve the final three tributes at this point).

To his surprise, it completely severed Glory's wrist. She roared in pain, rearing onto Brett once more with her right hand. With her sword, she managed to land a quick, clean cut right through his shoulder. It went _completely through his body,_ and yet he was still alive.

But one of them soon would not be alive. Brett was able to stab Glory's chest area once again. This time, he heard the fleshy, bouncy sound that told him that he had just managed to pierce the heart of the District 1 girl.

The cannon went off. Three left.

Brett looked at the corpse of Glory Asphodel. For a _girl,_ she sure had a lot of power. She had been responsible for so many deaths, as far as he knew. It seemed to him that Glory got all of the, well, glory.

Right now, though, Brett had his wound to deal with. He found a small piece of trash that he could wrap around his shoulder to use as a kind of tourniquet. Yes, it was very, very tight, and if he kept it on for more than two hours he might lose his arm, but it seemed highly unlikely that these Games would last for longer than two more hours.

Brett once again considered how much he had gone through in these Games, just for Estonia, just to live.

 _I got hit in the bicep with a knife during the Bloodbath, I got the stomach bug that landed Garnet in the hospital, I got hit in the chest during the disbandment of the Career alliance, and now I have this stab wound. Oh, and I'm the last Career left now. There's that, too._

 _I sure as hell better win these Games now._

* * *

"Another cannon!" Taysom exclaimed. "Man, when do these end?"

"I don't know" Paolina said. "When there is only one of us left, I guess? What I want to know is, is it time to split up now?"

"I most certainly think it is" Taysom said. "After all, if we wait until Glory or Brett or whoever is killed, then it's just us against each other. You don't want that, do you?"

Paolina shook her head. "I do not want that. Good-bye, Taysom. It's been nice knowing you".

Taysom looked as though he was about to reply, but he was interrupted by the sound of footsteps on the dirt. Fast, frantic footsteps. This meant...someone was running.

Another tribute.

The face of Brett Mason appeared over the hill. With one look at the District 2 boy, Paolina knew that he wanted to fight. Which made sense, after all, considering that they were now at the final three. Every single tribute remaining alive in this arena was present.

As Paolina looked at Taysom, she was about to run away. However, she didn't want to risk losing her opportunity to return home. Was there a way that she could win now? With just three left? She'd always discounted the possibility, but now, with so few tributes left, it seemed that it just might be possible.

"I'm going for him!" Taysom yelled.

"You can't be serious? He'll _cream_ you!" Paolina shouted back.

"Just stay where you are! It's going to be okay!" he replied.

Paolina wanted to believe that the older boy was telling the truth. However, she saw no reason to think that that was so. It wasn't as though there was anybody else to turn on. Even if Taysom won this duel, they would have to turn on each other. And then Paolina knew what would happen.

She wouldn't be able to kill the District 7 boy, and would never be able to win. She would go down, her family knowing that she had been _so close_ to victory. And then her district would never hear the end of it, and then Taysom Resinworth would be crowned the victor.

All of that scenario played out in her head, and she knew irrevocably that she didn't want that to happen. But neither did she want to win knowing that she had taken the gift of life away from another teenager. She just wished that there was a third option.

Taysom had now reached Brett, and they were fighting on the field. More specifically, they were partway up a small hill. At any moment, if one of them shifted, it could send both of them on a sideways somersault all the way down to the bottom.

Brett had managed to get on top of Taysom. It was clear that he was more skilled, having been practicing weaponry all his life, but Taysom wasn't far off. Paolina didn't know why a garbage bag was wrapped so tightly around his left arm, but she had a feeling that there was some reason that the Career wasn't betraying. After all, why would he? All he had to do was kill Taysom, and then he could just kill Paolina. And then he'd win.

Taysom was on the defensive from the very beginning. He was blocking Brett's jabs, trying to find some sort of opening on the District 2 boy. All of his work to get here, including forming a large alliance and losing two members to paranoia, was going to be for naught unless he was able to pull this off.

He desperately wanted to win this battle, as did Brett. They both knew that if they won, all they would have to do would be to kill Paolina, and then they would get the crown.

Suddenly, Taysom gave a great shove, and the two boys began to roll down the hill at high speed, sideways. Brett managed to once again get on top of Taysom, and he was showing the District 7 boy no mercy. As they rolled down the hill, he managed to make a cut in Taysom's arm. More specifically, his right arm was the one that was now disabled. And since Taysom was right-handed, this put him at even more of a disadvantage.

Brett, however, was also having some difficulty. The garbage tourniquet slipped off of his arm, and blood began oozing out of the wound once again. Paolina had not realized that the Career was wounded, although she should have been able to guess that that was the reason he was wearing the garbage bag.

Taysom was shocked at the volume of bright red blood that was pouring out of Brett's shoulder. He should have used the opportunity from the older boy's shock to strike the killing blow on Brett. But Taysom was too slow.

Brett was able to recover, at least for now. He slashed at the District 7 boy, completely ignoring the District 9 girl. _Well, he's going to go after me next. I mean, why wouldn't he? I'm the only other tribute left!_

Taysom was once again too slow to the punch, and Brett made one long cut on his upper left chest. This shocked Taysom enough that Brett was able to cut into Taysom's collar. Bright red blood oozed out of his neck. Taysom coughed, spraying blood in Brett's face.

Incredibly, though, he wasn't done yet. Taysom had done so much to get here, and he wasn't just going to succumb to a little neck wound. He would let Paul down, and he most certainly did not want to do _that._

In a last-ditch attempt to get Brett off of him, Taysom slashed into Brett's stomach once again, making the wound already there much worse. He knew that this would probably take him only about half an hour or so to bleed out, if that. And then, as hard as it might be emotionally, he could kill Paolina. And then he would win the Hunger Games.

It was all for naught, though, just as he had feared. With one swipe to Taysom's forehead, Brett was able to cut into his brain. The District 2 boy used his knife as if Taysom's brain was a watermelon.

Brain matter sprayed everywhere, and the cannon fired. Paolina nearly passed out in horror. Two left.

 _I'm about to do it, Estonia!_ Brett thought. _All I have to do is kill this lame-ass girl, and then I have the victor's crown locked up. I'll win, and then I'll please your father. We can get married and live in the Victor's Village!_

That was his perception of the situation. The reality, however, was altogether different.

As soon as Brett stood up from Taysom's corpse, he felt the largest wave of dizziness of his life. He sheathed his knife, ready to kill Paolina and seal the deal, but he found himself barely able to keep on his feet, let alone walk over to Paolina.

At first, he wasn't sure why this was. But adrenaline had covered up the pain he had felt, kept him from noticing the cuts to his stomach Taysom had made, nor the garbage bag tourniquet slipping off his shoulder.

Brett collapsed, his vision darkening. He tried one last time to stand up and make the 100-meter dash to Paolina, but he found himself unable to.

He knew what was going on now. He closed his eyes and accepted his fate. So close, but yet so far away...

* * *

The twenty-third and final cannon of the 64th Hunger Games fired. A sixteen-year-old girl, small for her age, was the sole remaining tribute standing alone in the ruined field, not unlike some of those in her home district on a very smoggy day.

The voice of Claudius Templesmith came after the traditional blaring of the trumpets.

"Ladies and gentlemen, I am pleased to congratulate Paolina Guignard, victor of the 64th Hunger Games!"

Paolina heard Claudius's voice, but it sounded as though she was underwater. She didn't hear the sound of the hovercraft coming to pick her up.

The District 9 girl, the winner of the 64th Hunger Games, lost consciousness.


	28. Guilt

**Happy belated Thanksgiving! I'm glad I accomplished my goal of getting this done before Christmas. Now, I can focus on my next story, the details of which will be discussed at the bottom of this page. I also put up a YouTube video of the story of the time I threw up on my sister in Mexico. I hope that you watch it, rate, and comment.**

 **As to what I'm thankful for, I am thankful that this story is over. It was a wild roller coaster ride, but I'm ready to get out of the car. This story really did take a lot out of me. I may have to rewrite the Victory Tour at a later date, but I want to explain why there is seemingly little effort put into it.**

 **If you are wondering why the second half of the Victory Tour, with the exception of District 2, is omitted, it's because I wrote it on the plane after throwing a temper tantrum about Survivor not being able to be accessed from 35,000 feet. I promise you, I'm not a token autistic person! On the bright side, this chapter came out earlier than expected! But, yeah, I typed the last several hundred words on my iPad. I feel some of your pain, Talkingbirdguy!**

* * *

"All clear!"

"Okay, good! Let's charge up the defibrillator!"

"ONE...TWO...THREE!"

The device lit up with electricity, sending it right into the still body of Paolina Guignard. She had passed out as a result of the shock that had hit her after realizing that she had just won the Hunger Games, and had stopped breathing. Neither was her heart beating. Considering that she had done it even without killing any other tributes, it was understandable. Still, they didn't want to lose their victor, as undesirable as they might be to the Capitol.

Even as the paramedics looked at the TV, they could see footage from the homes of various Capitol people. The citizens were either unaware of this small invasion of their privacy or they just didn't care, although the lead paramedic, Ramsey Honeyman, strongly suspected that it was the latter. It would only make sense, after all.

Most of the citizens seemed to be in an uproar as well, but a rebellion seemed unlikely. They were just very, very surprised that such a pitiful little District 9 girl won, when all signs had pointed to either Brett or Taysom.

The electricity caused her heart to restart, and her body gave a shudder.

* * *

Groggily, Paolina opened her eyes. Looking around her, she was in a room surrounded by blue tiles. How had she gotten here, again?

Oh, yeah. She'd just won the Hunger Games, and now they were taking her back to the Capitol. But why were they making such a fuss about her? She wasn't even injured!

"Congratulations, Miss Guignard. You are the victor of the sixty-fourth Hunger Games".

Paolina tried to sit up, but she found that she couldn't. "Why can't I sit up?" she asked.

"About that..." the paramedic said. "You see, Paolina, you had a very great shock as a result of winning the Hunger Games. Your heart actually stopped, so we had to use the AED right there".

That explained why she felt like she had just been kicked in the chest, probably the most serious injury she had suffered throughout her entire time in the Hunger Games. That explained a lot of things, like why her limbs felt like they were immersed in strawberry jelly.

"What was ironic about the whole thing", the paramedic said, "is that your heart stopped beating as a result of a shock, and then it took another one to get it started up again. That _does_ happen sometimes", he said thoughtfully. "We think it was just because you were so surprised at how you had just won the Hunger Games without killing anybody. Even so, we're keeping you overnight just to monitor you. Are you okay with that?"

After a week of being in the arena, and a week before that in the Capitol, Paolina was okay with that. Besides, it wasn't like she would have been given the option to say no anyways.

* * *

By the time Paolina arrived back in the Capitol, the first blue streaks of dawn, cutting through the black of night, were just starting to come up over the Rocky Mountains, or what had used to be called the Rockies. She had slept most of the way, exhausted from her ordeal. Now, though, she had woken back up, perking up at the sound of the hovercraft lowering its landing gear, much like she had last night. It had been very windy in the air, so it had taken longer to fly north than would have been expected.

The victor insisted that she had already stayed overnight, since the hovercraft ride had started in the late evening, but the doctors weren't hearing any of it. They were going to keep for another night before releasing her tomorrow evening for her closing interview, and then she would return back to District 9, where she would live a luxurious life in the Victor's Village, which was the farthest part of the district from the Wheatlands, both geographically and economically.

During her time in the hospital, the doctors did several scans of her heart, everything coming back negative. Paolina did not have a pre-existing cardiac condition. It was all because of the shock of winning the Hunger Games that she had collapsed.

She was aware that she was the second tribute to win the Games with zero kills, after Buck McBride, but the Capitol citizens saw it as there being a big difference between the District 9 girl from the 64th Hunger Games and the District 10 boy from the 44th Hunger Games. For one, Buck had actually _fought_ other tributes despite not actually managing to kill any of them. Paolina had purposely avoided fighting anybody else, and she was sure that she was going to get asked a lot of questions about that during her interview with Caesar Flickerman.

Right now, though, she focused on the doctors were making sure that she was fit to be released tomorrow, and so far she was completely fine. She was alowed to eat as much as she wanted, trying to regain the weight she had lost in the Games. There had been worse tributes upon winning the Games.

The reason they were delaying the interview was because they didn't want Paolina to get too overexcited in order to prevent unnecessary stress on her heart. Since the Capitol did want to hear from her as soon as possible, they gave her intravenous doses of a drug that would relax her heart and make it so that she would not make it stop beating extremely quickly once she was in front of a crowd, especially considering that she was kind of a shy person to begin with.

After spending the night in the underground hospital, she was whisked off by her prep team.

They started by braiding her hair in the style of what they thought a farm girl would look like, even though Paolina rarely or never braided her hair. Seriously, the Capitol needed to consider what the victors wanted. After all, they had earned it by being the sole survivor of the Hunger Games!

And then, Paolina realized that this made her hate the Capitol even more. She'd often wondered if her family's rebellious acts were really necessary, given the high amount of risk that was involved. Now, though, she knew that since she was a victor, the Capitol would be into her private life far more. If they investigated, Paolina knew there would be nowhere for her family to hide.

Paolina would have to stop rebelling against the Capitol. There was no other way around it, no excuses.

She was given an amber-colored dress, the same color that the fields in District 9 were. It went all the way down to her ankles and made it difficult for her to walk. But then again, the purpose of this dress was not so that she could walk. It was so that she could sit still and look pretty, like the early 21st-century pop star Daya. In addition, she was adorned in a large rose-colored necklace that resembled an immunity necklace from _Survivor._ It was studded with golden jewels, and the center had a golden peace sign surrounded by a rose heart, which symbolized that she had gone through the whole Games without engaging in combat with any other tribute. She wore boots similar to those that the citizens of the Wheatlands wore when farming.

Except for her hair, Paolina loved her outfit. She felt that it represented her very well, and it showed that she was originally a farm girl, but she was also a pacifist who would never hurt anybody else on purpose. It was perfect for her!

Once the prep team was done with this, Paolina was escorted down a small hallway onto a plate, which was exactly identical in appearance to the one that she had ridden into the arena little more than a week ago. She stepped on it, knowing that it would take her onstage, and then she would be in front of thousands of people, being interviewed by Caesar Flickerman. She didn't know how she was going to face it, and with each and every inch that the plate rose, she became more anxious.

* * *

The plate finally stopped once she was onstage. Once it was there, she sat back down and looked directly at Caesar Flickerman, trying not to betray her nervousness. She knew that she didn't want to let her district down.

"Ladies and gentlemen, let me welcome our newest victor. Hailing from District 9, making it all the way through the Hunger Games without killing anybody, or even engaging in combat at all...PAOLINA GUIGNARD!"

The crowd cheered a lot, and Paolina was left to sit there and watch all of these people celebrate her. It wasn't something that you saw all of the time, a victor with no kills in the arena.

"So, Paolina. Would you like to have the interview now, after the recap, or during the recap?"

"I think that I would prefer to have it after the recap, Caesar" the victor said.

"Sounds good" Caesar Flickerman said. "Now, if you'll simply go over there, to the chair".

It was customary that the victor of the Hunger Games sat in an ornate chair while viewing a three-hour film of the highlights of the Games. Sometimes, the victors pumped their fists in the air, but sometimes they looked stunned at their victory. Paolina felt on the verge of tears, even though she had not killed anybody. The fact remained, however, that she had not stopped them from being killed, being so focused on her own survival.

Now, she might be about to pay the price for that.

This year, the throne was made out of Truffula trunks, with tufts being used as the headrest, and made into the patterns of the velvet of the chair. It looked very comfortable, and Paolina was not disappointed. She wasn't about to just fall asleep right here, though. She was here to watch the interview, and was far too nervous to even _think_ of such a thing.

The film started up. The very first thing that was shown was Paolina's reaping. Unlike the previous two victors of the Hunger Games, she had been reaped into, rather than having volunteered for, the Hunger Games. Like black merged tribes versus non-black merged tribes, there was a key difference between years of the Games with volunteer victors and reaped victors.

Paolina was shown in the 16-year-old session, holding her hands in prayer that she would not be reaped. Of course, her wish did not come true, although it would later be negated by her winning. It didn't look as though she was about to become the victor.

Speaking of a winner's edit, it was usually present in the recap that was shown to the Capitol audience, as well as the newly crowned victor. However, it was hard to introduce a winner's edit when the winner had scored a four in training. Even though it no longer mattered, it still embarrassed Paolina quite a bit that she had scored a 4, when the previous victor, Margaret Malachi, had scored a _ten._

It then showed her interview, in which she had just barely been able to avoid spilling the beans about being from a family of rebels. Thankfully, she had been able to keep her lips locked, and the memory was not pleasant for her. At the same time, she had been able to keep her family safe, and that was all that mattered right now.

The film then moved over to the Bloodbath, in which six tributes died. Paolina had of course not been a participant in the violence there, but she couldn't help but feel more rage bubbling in her throat after seeing it.

After witnessing her district partner, Dax, get saved by Dalton, the District 10 boy, from one of the bear cub muttations, she felt a little bit more sympathetic to the boy, even though she had not liked him very much. He still hadn't deserved the Barbaloot bear attack, so she didn't like to see that. Even so, had Dax Baylor died right there, that would have been one less tribute in her path to victory.

For most of the earlier parts of the Games, Paolina was shown fairly little, mainly because there had not been too much interesting footage of her. The Capitolites probably expected her to laugh when Jasper from District 8 crashed the car he was driving into an oncoming truck, killing the boy, but Paolina didn't find that funny. With every death that turned up on the screen, she felt as though she was getting kicked in the chest again.

At some point on the first night or the second morning, four of the six members of the Career pack fell ill from some mystery sickness. Paolina didn't know what it was, and it didn't really matter, but it was still very much interesting to watch the lengths that Twilight was going in order to get her fellow Careers better again. And the District 2 girl had been very lucky, Paolina thought. They didn't have hospitals in the Hunger Games very often, so you'd have to count on nature to use. Unless it was like the arena from last year, in which case you were kind of fucked unless you got a sponsor.

Gleam and Flyte, who seemed to be in some kind of a showmance, were in an alliance together, something Paolina had never had the desire to be a part of. It was painful to watch Flyte mourn her after running away from the carnivorous bears, as was watching Zelda fall into a vat of boiling liquid, and Brett and Preston running away from the factory before it exploded behind them. So that was what had happened.

Paolina didn't know what to expect next. She'd already seen her small run-in with Lace, which had ultimately not lead to any major fights. They had mostly managed to escape each other unharmed, but Paolina had been frightened more than a little by the encounter. Now, she would never know how Lace had felt.

 _That hurts to think about,_ she thought. _Paolina, think about something else, like what you're going to buy with your winnings!_

Lace ended up getting devoured by a giant purple spider mutt, while Flyte lost in a fight against Dax, her district partner. Even if Paolina did indeed cherish all life on this planet, she had to admit that she felt just a _little_ less bad about Dax Baylor's death after realizing that he had killed somebody.

And then, the paranoia started. Noelle turned on Karla. Garnet turned on Twilight. Brett later tracked down and killed Garnet. It just went on and on, and Paolina wished that it would stop, but she knew that it would be over soon.

At some point, Paolina received a sponsor gift, a picture of her family. At the time, she had struggled to hold back tears. Now, the movie showed that quite a lot, emphasizing that the photograph gave the sixteen-year-old girl the strength that she had needed in order to carry on fighting without fighting, making it to the end of the Hunger Games without participating in the killing. And it also gave the audience more of Paolina, which was what they had wanted all along.

The deaths continued. Dax died at the hands of Glory, while Preston, after getting sidetracked by a Lorax that resembled Donald Trump, was trapped and drowned in a lake of quicksand. Noelle was killed by Taysom, who had initially forgiven her and agreed to re-form the alliance, but seemed to have second thoughts about it later.

And then, it was the final four. Taysom fell into the lake of quicksand, but just as Paolina was about to help him out, the lake drained, allowing Taysom to float straight to the top. Paolina formed her first and only alliance right then and there, with the District 7 boy who had been the founder of the Underdog Alliance.

Elsewhere, Brett managed to defeat Glory before being led to where Taysom and Paolina were waiting.

The final battle commenced. Initially, Taysom went after Brett, and the two of them were brawling, knife against knife, each boy looking for some sort of an advantage over the other. It was a fitting finale, the lowest Career, with a score of eight (still twice as high as Paolina's), against the founder of the Underdog Alliance, the greatest threat to the Careers. Both of them put on a good show, even though it was clear from the beginning that Taysom was outmatched. He had never had a chance against the District 2 boy.

It was sickening to again watch Taysom's brain be sliced open like watermelon. Brett stood up, very glad that he had overcome the District 7 boy, and he was now positive he was going to be the victor. He only had one other tribute left to kill, and that would be very easy, since it was such a pitiful little pacifistic girl. Brett could already feel the victor's crown resting squarely atop his head of shoulder-length black hair.

Then, however, he noticed that the garbage bag he had tied around his wound had fallen off, and he was no longer able to stem the flow of blood from his shoulder. Brett awkwardly tried to run over to Paolina, to seal the deal and win, but then he collapsed from blood loss and died.

Paolina had won, as the trumpets blaring in to announce her victory celebrated it. It had constantly been a question of which alliance, be it the Career alliance or the Underdog Alliance, would be victorious. The ultimate answer had been, none of them. Paolina had won just by staying neutral.

Once the movie was over, the crowds began clapping at very high intensity, really showing their enthusiasm for having a victor with no kills. It was clear that it was halfhearted, though; Paolina knew that the Capitol favored victors who had been very violent in the arena. But at the moment, she didn't really care. She had just wanted to live, to win, and now she had.

All she wanted was to get all of this behind her.

* * *

Paolina returned to the orange chair that was where she had initially talked to Caesar from. Now, it was time for her interview, after which she would be asked a lot of questions by adoring fans. Then and only then could she board a train back to District 9.

"So, Paolina. I think it is safe to say that very few of us, if any, expected you to win. What do you think of that? Did you think you could win?" Caesar began.

"I've got to be honest, Caesar. I had _absolutely no expectations_ whatsoever of winning the Hunger Games. When I got that score of four, I wasn't just trying to lay low, it was simply how it happened. I really did suck that much with my skill that I showed in front of the Gamemakers". The crowd laughed at that, and Paolina couldn't help but laugh along with them. Even so, it felt somewhat forced.

"That was very impressive, Paolina. Even now, it feels like I'm in a dream, it's just so crazy. Why didn't you try to attack any other tributes?"

"Well, it's very simple" Paolina said. "I'm a pacifist, and so I didn't _ever_ want to kill any other tributes. As I said earlier, I didn't think I could win, and even if I did I didn't want to end up stuck with all of that guilt that comes as a result of taking the life of another teenager. No, another human being".

Paolina's voice was very low at the end, and the Capitolites present in the crowd could tell that this was some of the most emotion that had ever been shown by the victor. This girl was clearly very, very happy to have won. Or maybe she was sad. It was hard to tell with Paolina Guignard right now.

"What was your strategy going into the Bloodbath?" Caesar asked her.

"I didn't want to kill anybody, as I have said before, but I also did not want to simply get killed on the first day. I also figured that I would be able to find some food in one of the buildings in the city, so I knew that my best hope was to run away".

Now that she was answering questions from the part of the Games where she had been alone in the city, which was almost all of it, she was becoming more and more anxious and self-conscious. She knew that at some point, she would have to answer a question about receiving the only sponsor gift from the entirety of the 64th Hunger Games, a picture of her family. She didn't want to give them a very emotional reaction to that, because she knew that they would be able to use her expression against her, somehow. Her parents had taught her, after all, that that was what the Capitol did, and how they operated. Paolina didn't want to do anything that the Capitol wanted, including letting them see this show of emotion from her.

"So, Paolina, in the middle of the Games, day three, was it? Anyway, you had a little run-in with Lace. Can you describe what was going through your mind at that moment?"

"Honestly, I just wanted to get out of there, because I figured that Lace would be far less hesitant to fight with me than I would be to fight with her. I knew that if I wanted to win, I would need to get away from her. And so, that was what I did".

Caesar, as well as the audience, seemed satisfied with her response to that question. However, the next question was the very one that she had been dreading. She knew all along that it was what they would want to hear her answer to.

"Paolina, how did you feel about being the only person in the Games to be sponsored? Were you glad to receive the portrait of your family, or did it make you homesick?"

Paolina choked on her words, not knowing what she was going to say when the tie came to say it. Luckily, she was momentarily saved by a voice from the crowd.

"I was the sponsor!" a female voice shouted.

Caesar Flickerman and Paolina Guignard watched as a teenaged girl, no older than Paolina herself, strode up to the stage. She took Paolina's hand in her own and shook it. She betrayed an air of confidence that made it seem like she was a lot more confident than Paolina felt.

"Hello. My name is Peyton, and I was the person who sent Paolina the photograph of her parents. At least, my family paid the money for it".

Paolina was very surprised. Peyton seemed to be very friendly, and yet Caesar did not seem to want her there. Although in hindsight, it shouldn't have seemed too weird for her, considering the fact that it was _her_ interview.

"Well, Peyton, I appreciate your coming out as the sponsor, but this is really Paolina's night to answer the questions, so I would kindly ask you to go back to your seat before she answers my question about the sponsor gift".

Peyton turned around and strode back to her seat. This left Paolina forced to answer the question.

"Well, I was definitely a little bit homesick by it...but it also made me feel a little bit more confident, because I knew that there was someone, somewhere, who wanted me to win. And yet that also added a little bit of performance anxiety, in that I felt like I might let the sponsor down. All in all, it had many effects on me, both positive and negative".

 _Wow! I really just spoke that, so eloquently and confidently!_

"This is the last question from me, Paolina" Caesar said. "Tell me...during that final battle, did you think you could win? Even with only three tributes left, including yourself, did you still feel that you had no chance?"

"That's a good question, Caesar. On the whole I would say no, I did not see any pathway to victory. I felt sure that either Taysom or Brett would win that final battle, and then they would just kill me. And it would be as simple as that. It was only because Brett had already been severely wounded that I was able to win. But do not mistake these words: I am very grateful that I am alive, even if it means that everyone else is dead".

The audience cheered.

After this, Paolina was still forced to hang around for a while, answering questions from Capitol citizens. It was until two in the morning that she stayed there, constantly answering the same questions about her strategy, the finale, and specific moments in the Games, and what she had thought about them. She kept repeating the same answers, and eventually they stopped asking the questions.

Once the crowd had finally begun to dissipate, Paolina was allowed to leave and then board a train back to District 9. She slept most of the five-hour ride, glad that she no longer had to keep watch around her, no longer had to worry about randomly getting killed.

She had done it.

* * *

Paolina arrived back in District 9 around the time that most of the farm workers were about an hour into their jobs. After taking a taxi from the station, she had returned back to her old house, back in the Wheatlands. It was just as shabby as it had been before, constructed mainly of wood. She was only glad that she only needed to live here for a few more days. Then, the paperwork would be all filled out, and she could move into the Victor's Village.

During these few days, she decided that she wanted to find her passion, something that she could focus on now that she was facing a life without anything to work towards. She had always had a purpose of rebelling peacefully against the Capitol, but now she couldn't do that.

It was the her night back home, at dinner, that she finally brought it up.

"Mom? Dad?" she said over the noise of her father chewing on the hard brown tessera bread.

"What is it?" Mrs. Guignard asked her daughter. Although her parents had both loved Paolina even before the Hunger Games, they respected her even more now that she had been torn away from them, and then managed to make it back in one piece. That was not something that they took for granted, not even for a moment.

Paolina didn't know where to begin. And yet, she decided, it was best not to beat around the bush. She might as well just say what she meant to say.

"We can't rebel anymore. The Capitol will be paying too much attention to us, now that I'm victor".

"I understand" her father said once he had finished his mouthful of bread. "Honestly, I don't even care anymore. Yeah, I still hate the fuckers, but as long as we get Paolina back, that's really all that matters. Right, Heather?"

"That's right, Barry" Heather Guignard replied. "We can rebel all we want, but it won't change the fact that we got our daughter back".

* * *

Three days later, it had finally come time for the Guignards to move into the Victor's Village of District 9. They were joined by only three other living victors and their families, so it was kind of a lonely place. However, there was no denying that it was quite beautiful.

The living room had plush red armchairs, a mint green rug, and cadet blue walls. The three main colors in the RGB system. There was a yellow chandelier hanging from the ceiling, and the stairs were covered in a black rug. Paolina walked up the stairs to her new bedroom, and she was shocked by how neat and tidy it was.

The door here was magenta, while the walls were teal. A butterscotch yellow rug adorned the floor, and the bedsheets were orange with a hint of red. It was definitely a brilliant color scheme, and Paolina was very shocked by it. It was as though they knew all of her favorite colors, and everything else.

And then, Paolina knew what she wanted her passion to be. How she would be able to find meaning in her life, now that she no longer had the Hunger Games to dictate that for her.

* * *

Now that Paolina was a victor, she received an exorbitant salary, to the point that she couldn't go broke no matter how hard she tried, the money just kept on coming. With this, she was able to afford something that very few people in District 9 could afford.

The Guignards, after Paolina told them her idea, went into town with their daughter and bought a large machine, the size of a printer. You could have made a cube of Nintendo GameCubes, two by two by two, and that would be a little smaller than what they had purchased.

There was something special about this machine, however. It had the ability to create a Crayola twistable crayon in whatever color Paolina wanted. It was her dream come true, as Paolina had always loved art. Using these colors, Paolina was able to channel all of her feelings onto the computer paper.

She often stayed up late, working on a depiction of her bed, which she estimated was the color #FF5400. She once again felt very elated to have something like this, even though it had come at a cost of so many young lives.

Art was therapeutic for her, in a way. It didn't make the grief go away, necessarily, but it made it easier for her to express her emotions and take her mind off of how she was feeling. On the outside, Paolina appeared to be extremely happy with how things were going. After all, she wasn't guilty at all, not having hurt anyone in the arena. And yet, she still felt bad about surviving to the very end, when twenty-three other teenagers had not had the same luck.

It was on one of these evenings that the unexpected happened.

* * *

It was late September by now, and even though there were few trees in District 9, it was very much visible that the seasons were changing. The air was also becoming a little crisper, and Paolina was thinking that she was going to retire a little earlier to her room, as the sun went down about a minute earlier every day. She was very much a daytime person.

As she walked onto the threshold of her house, passing the trees with leaves a similar color to her bedsheets, she heard the sound of a chopper behind her. Surely, there was nobody on official business right here, right now. It just didn't make sense. But, then again, what did make sense when you were a victor from the Wheatlands?

Paolina turned around, and she found herself staring straight into the snakelike eyes of President Coriolanus Snow, the totalitarian dictator who was the leader of Panem. He wore his typical severe expression that told Paolina he was not a person to be crossed.

"Good evening, Miss Guignard" the president said.

"Good evening, President Snow" Paolina said as confidently as possible.

She let Snow in, and then showed him upstairs into her vividly colored bedroom. She allowed Snow to sit at her desk, while Paolina sat down on the edge of her bed. Snow didn't seem to have any problem with this.

"Where are your parents, Paolina?" he asked her.

"They're just downstairs. They're preparing dinner. Do you want to stay for that?"

"No thanks" said Snow. "I've got to fly back to the presidential palace for some filet mignon. But I do have some things to say to you before you eat dinner with your family".

Paolina nodded.

"The first thing is, I would like to congratulate you on the way that you won. No kills at all, nor did you even attempt to fight with, or hurt, any other tributes. That takes some serious skills, Miss Guignard!"

"Please, you can call me Paolina. And it was really just luck. Had Brett not gotten injured by Glory, I would not have won, because he would have killed me. In a way, I think Glory won me the Games".

"Don't think like that, Paolina. You still needed to have the will to win, even if you didn't kill anyone".

That made Paolina feel a little bit better. However, she had a sense that this conversation was about to take a less optimistic turn. She knew that, somehow, things couldn't keep on going her way. She might have won the Hunger Games, but even she knew that this didn't make her safe from the wrath of Coriolanus Snow.

"Another thing, Paolina. Desirable victors are asked to...do some services for me within the Capitol. I know that you are not wanting to be a prostitute right now, and I completely understand. However..."

Paolina felt sick to her stomach. Was Snow going to ask her to be a _slut_? She couldn't imagine herself doing that, and yet the idea that a lot of other victors were asked to...was she going to have to sell herself within the confines of the Capitol?

"...you will not be asked to do that. You see, you are not considered _desirable._ Maybe it has to do with your age, or the fact that you didn't kill anyone. Well, that's good for you, and that means Margaret Malachi is on the hook for at least another year".

Paolina was glad that she was not going to be asked to prostitute for the Capitol. She harbored a lot of hatred for them, but if she was demanded to sell her own body, then that would just be the last straw.

"There is one last matter for the two of us to discuss tonight, Miss Guignard. It is, however, the most serious and important".

The victor's breath caught in her throat. Was there any way that Snow knew about her family's actions? It wasn't impossible, was it? Or was she safe from the president in terms of this?

"I heard that your family started the tradition of burning down outposts in the Wheatlands" Snow said.

Paolina was about to lie and say that that was not true, but Snow held up a finger to stop her. "Don't lie to me, Paolina. You and your family are supported for the rest of your lives, but it would be a shame if something happened to them. Might as well tell the truth" he said thoughtfully.

Paolina nodded. "My family has been involved in...rebellious actions ever since I was a small girl. I really hope that you don't punish us, though-"

"Oh, don't worry, Miss Guignard" Snow said. "I have no intentions whatsoever of punishing your family, now that you are a victor. But make no mistake, I very much expect you and your family to _stop engaging in rebellious actions._ If you don't, well...let's just say that the consequences will not be good".

Those were Snow's last words before he left Paolina's home and returned to his private plane. Then, they flew back over the Victor's Village, the town center, and then the Wheatlands. Then, the plane disappeared into the western sky.

During dinner that night, Paolina was tense. She made sure to let her parents know, once again, that Snow had issued an ultimatum: Stop rebelling, or pay the ultimate price. They both agreed to it once again.

Now, Paolina drew up a picture on her laptop of the 64th arena, where she had lived during one of the scariest weeks of her life. It was now common knowledge where the location was. In fact, arenas were usually open to the public afterwards, where Capitolites would go to watch the Games over again, visit sites where deaths took place, and even take part in re-enactments. Of course, no one was killed during those.

As Paolina tried to calculate the hex codes for the Truffula trees' colors, she tried to think that things might be getting better. But she knew that, in a few months from now, things would only get worse.

* * *

Roughly halfway around the year from the beginning of the Hunger Games, there was the Victory Tour. During this traditional ceremony, the incumbent victor would travel by luxury train around Panem, giving speeches and taking part in ceremonies in each district. The tour went in descending order by district number, except that it skipped the victor's district, instead visiting it last. This year, the tour would skip District 9, going from District 10 right to District 8.

Paolina was not able to bring her magical crayon generator with her on the trip, but she knew that it would only be two weeks until she would return. That was how she decided to deal with it.

On a bleak day in January, the train that would take Paolina on her trip around Panem pulled into the station. Paolina hugged her parents, knowing that the end of the trip could not come soon enough.

* * *

The first stop on the Victory Tour was District 12. The town square was more run-down than the others, even more than that of District 9. Even though Paolina had grown up in the Wheatlands, she could tell that the mining ghettoes were even poorer. By comparison, the houses in the Wheatlands were like a million-dollar New England mansion, even though Paolina had grown up in poverty.

Flyte and Jessie were the fallen tributes from this district. On Flyte's side, nobody was present. Paolina had been told that Flyte had run away from home at the age of 12, so it was understandable that his father would not have come to the podium. On Jessie's side were parents and a sister, off of whom Paolina could sense all of their grief. It overwhelmed her, to think of all these wasted lives in this boring old mining town. Not just the tributes who were reaped, though; she felt bad for _everyone_ in the Seam.

After a relatively plain celebrating, Paolina returned to the train and headed south to District 11.

If anything, 11 was even poorer than 12. Kudzu vines were taking over much of the infrastructure. Peacekeepers, who ironically did not really help to keep the peace, were lined up in the streets, guns at the ready just in case. Paolina _really_ hoped that one of them didn't get trigger finger and kill one of the innocent people in the crowd. Paolina herself had nothing to fear, since there was a force field surrounding her during her speech, but she felt much pain for the citizens, who lived in fear of this every day.

On Vander's side, he had parents to mourn him. His father seemed to be a pastor, as he was carrying a large book with a cross on it. A Bible. Noelle, on the other hand, had a large family to mourn her. Both families seemed to be just as poor, if not poorer than, the Guignards had been before Paolina's victory. And Paolina really did feel for them.

After a brief tour of the orchards, followed by dinner, she was whisked west to District 10.

In 10, Ryla's side had four sisters who looked uneasily at each other, and Paolina figured that this must have been a very dysfunctional family. There was also a middle-aged woman who was probably her mother, as well as an older man. Paolina didn't know who this was, maybe Ryla's grandfather? On Dalton's side, there was nobody. Nobody at all. So many tributes, without families, without friends, no one who seemed to care for them. Could this never end?

Since Paolina was from District 9, it was skipped in the Victory Tour. District 8 was next. On Jasper's side, there was a young buff man who was maybe his brother, and a pair of deeply saddened parents. None of them looked particularly angry at Paolina, but the family and group of admirers on Lace's side definitely didn't look happy. She was only too happy to leave the textile district behind.

Then it was on to District 7. Karla had a couple of brothers who all stared angrily at Paolina. Even if Paolina had not killed the District 7 girl herself, she had still stolen victory from Karla. She'd been expecting that it would have been even worse from Taysom's side, but nobody ended up showing up for him. She didn't know why, but she once again felt very bad for the founder of the Underdog Alliance.

Nothing else particularly eventful happened until Paolina reached District 2. This district was significant for two reasons. One, the previous victor had come from here. Two, there was the family of Brett Mason to contend with, who would no doubt be the most pissed out of all of them.

With regards to the Mason parents, they were not as stone faced as Paolina expected, but they still did not appear to be happy with her. Twilight's family was not nearly as bad, but they still appeared to harbor a great deal of resentment towards her.

Paolina was eager to leave District 2 behind, but before she could, there was one person she wanted to talk to.

She was looking for a tall, beautiful girl with flowing black hair. And Paolina found her target at the train station.

Provocatively dressed in an orange dress was Margaret Malachi, looking as though she had just been elected president and wasn't happy about it. Paolina didn't know what she was going to say to her.

"Congratulations" Margaret said.

Paolina was about to thank Margaret for her compliment, but then she realized something.

Even if she had not hurt anyone, the fact remained that by Paolina surviving, twenty-three other teenagers had had to die, just so she could live. No matter what she did, she would never be able to absolve herself of that guilt. She would live with it for the rest of her life.

And so, she could never accept Margaret's congratulations. But she always knew that it could have been much, much worse.

* * *

 **And, with that, we have another SYOT completed! Here are the final rankings of the tributes, each one listed next to the name of their creator.**

 **1st: Paolina (Singlewave)**

 **2nd: Brett (SnowLucario)**

 **3rd: Taysom (theotherpianist)**

 **4th: Glory (WhyNotWriteFanfiction)**

 **5th: Noelle (Elim9)**

 **6th: Preston (Thorn5502)**

 **7th: Dax (beauthg03/SnowLucario)**

 **8th: Garnet (ThomasHungerGamesFan)**

 **9th: Twilight (Peytonhungergameshaymitch)**

 **10th: Karla (Thorn5502)**

 **11th: Flyte (Medicine Cat Of The Opera)**

 **12th: Lace (Peytonhungergameshaymitch)**

 **13th: Zelda (SnowLucario)**

 **14th: Gleam (Peytonhungergameshaymitch)**

 **15th: Sparkle (SnowLucario)**

 **16th: Jasper (ThomasHungerGamesFan)**

 **17th: Dalton (Thorn5502)**

 **18th: Duncan (Elim9)**

 **19th: Ryla (DaughterOfTigris)**

 **20th: Memphis (calebbeers21)**

 **21st: Jay (Seahorse8)**

 **22nd: Jessie (BirkaranDaReader)**

 **23rd: Vander (BirkaranDaReader)**

 **24th: Gauge (beauthg03)**

 **Also, here are the final obituaries. I didn't want to end the last couple of chapters on these, and plus, the last five deaths all happened on Day 7 anyway, so it's what I would have done anyways. In any case...**

 **RIP Preston, Noelle, Glory, Taysom, and Brett**

 **Preston: I think that this guy was an interesting character. His face claim was Zach Gordon, the guy who played Greg Heffley in the _Diary Of A Wimpy Kid_ movies. Right away, I had a picture of this guy in my head. I definitely enjoyed him, even though he was a loner throughout the entire Games. I remember being in the school library during study hall and writing the scene in the factory. I also think that he died in a pretty bad way as well. He was definitely a threat, and even as I was writing for him I felt that he was a very dangerous tribute, just because he volunteered for the Hunger Games to save his friend. If I had to do it all over again (heaven forbid), I would emphasize his desire to be a talk show host more.**

 **Noelle: She was a free-spirited District 11 girl. I at first felt that she was kind of like Rue, or an African-American version of Karla. Maybe not as naive as Viola from Final Judgment by Hoprocker, but still, not a cold-hearted killer. I don't know if her creator approved of how, in my hands, Noelle underwent a transformation from being such a cute little girl from the agricultural district to betraying one of her own alliance members. It was all done in the name of paranoia, but still, she'll probably go down as one of the villains of this story, although I feel like she's just like Vair from Labyrinth. They were driven by paranoia and not a general deep-seated desire to kill.**

 **Glory: She was submitted by the same person who gave me Elegance (also the District 1 girl). WNWF (WhyNotWriteFanfiction) praised me highly for how I wrote her last tribute, but not quite as much for Glory. She had a far worse past than Elegance, and yet she was still able to not faint during her individual training session. I'm told that she was going to give me a tribute with the last name of Tartarus, but I don't feel like writing another SYOT. They just take up too much time. I wanted her to last longer than Elegance did, and Glory managed that, but I still feel that she died in an unmemorable way. But that's not WNWF's fault. That's SL's fault.**

 **Taysom: I found this tribute to be one of the main heroes of the story. He was obviously the founder of the Underdog Alliance, and he kind of reminded me of Kalin from Fire and Ice, also by Hoprocker. Unlike Kalin, however, he did not end up winning. Although he did not end up being as innocent as many of you probably hoped, I still think that by abstaining from killing until the final 5, that does show something about his character. I also loved how he volunteered for his cousin, and since anyone loves a good underdog story, I think that I was giving him somewhat of a winner's edit, and, no matter how much I made it LOOK like he was going to win, I never lost sight of who my true winner was going to be. In the end, Taysom died very honorably, in battle during the finale. You can't get much of a better end than that.**

 **Brett: Of course, since I created him, it was quite late by the time I did end up killing him. I thought it was hilarious to base him off of the guy from the song Rude by MAGIC!, which has the same lyrics as the song Brett (and Mr. Jenkins) are "singing" throughout Brett's section in the Reapings. He is most certainly one of my favorite tributes that I have created, and I love his whole shtick about wanting to marry a girl but not being able to. Besides that, he managed to go from being from the weakest Career (discounting Sparkle) to being the last one left, even managing to overcome GARNET. FREAKING. GOLDS. Even so, the fact that he was created by me meant that he had to suffer a horribly disappointing death. He bled out, which, when I was having dinner with my mother and sister on Sunday night, I mentioned it to them and my mom said that bleeding out is one of the worst ways to die. Especially given _when_ he died. Just as he was about to kill...**

 **Paolina: Nobody expected her to win. And yet, that's EXACTLY why she won. I went through my list of tributes, making reasons why one tribute or another should not win. In the end, she was only one left, and so that was why she won. I didn't write too much about her besides her day-to-day survival, but I didn't feel that she necessarily needed too much more to be added to her. She just survived day to day, while being a pacifist and not hurting anybody. She won the Hunger Games, _not hurting anybody, and_ at the very end, all she had to do was stand there. It was the epitome of getting lucky in the Hunger Games, and yet I'm glad that I made her the victor. Even if it did result in my mother making cringe-worthy "POW-Lina" puns over the last two months, but it was all worth it in the end.**

 **I lost a few people, but I gained some more people along the way. Without my fans, I would just be some loser with Asperger's living in the far northeastern U.S. I'm glad that I have family as well, though. They can make life worth living. I'm glad that this story surpassed Labyrinth in both words and reviews. This contains over 10% more words than Labyrinth, so that is something to hang my hat on. I mean, a comment on my MP2 video was about how the commentor loved this story. If one of you guys is the Green Gamer, or whatever his username was, please tell me in the reviews section so I can give a proper thank-you.**

 **I want to talk about my future on this site. It's not likely that I will be doing another SYOT anytime soon, because these are hard to write. I don't want to break my tradition of being one of those rare SYOT authors who updates it.**

 **Finally, I would like to talk about my next project. Wing And A Scare is about a teenage boy from small town Maine who goes to a Christmas ball at his school. On the way back, he is abducted and taken to the Star Fox flight academy, where he begins as a cadet. Suggestions for characters by PM are very much encouraged, whether they be friends of the main character or a love interest, of which I need one.**

 **With that, I am sorry I ended the chapter so abruptly, but I may add a bit more in the near future. I wish this was under better circumstances, myself.**

 **Sincerely,**

 **SnowLucario**


End file.
